If you would you like to eat some of the healthiest, most nutritiously complete foods available, try sprouts! I know what you’re saying, “I’m not eating those– they look like little weeds!” (Okay, maybe you won’t say it, but my kids sure did!) Don’t be afraid to try them—not only are they healthy, they taste great, too.

Try a variety until you find some that you like. Try sprinkling a green salad with alfalfa and radish sprouts. Tuck some sprouted quinoa and sunflower seeds into your sandwich for added flavor and crunch. Cooking soup or chili with sprouted beans not only increases the nutrition significantly, but it makes digestion a little easier. My kids love to munch on plain, sprouted mung beans.

Vitamins A, B, C, E, and K increase in sprouted grains and beans. Riboflavin and folic acid multiply significantly, up to thirteen times the amount in dry seeds. Protein is abundant in sprouts, rivaling that found in meat. Sprouts are full of phytochemicals, which help protect us from disease.

Sprouting your own seeds is cheap and easy; they don’t need soil, sunshine, or fancy equipment to grow. Although there are many ways to sprout seeds, here is a simple way to get started:

Supplies:

One wide-mouth, glass canning jar

One square of cheesecloth or plastic mesh screen (enough to cover lid of jar)

One rubber band

Sprouting seeds

*Measure out appropriate amount of seed (amounts vary, depending on the type of seed)

*Rinse seeds

*Soak seeds (check instructions for your type of seed for soaking times)

*Rinse seeds again and place in jar

*Cover jar with cheesecloth or screen and fasten with rubber band

*Prop jar at a 45-degree angle for water to drain

*Rinse seeds 2-3 times a day, keeping it propped at an angle between rinsings

*Keep out of direct sunlight

*Eat sprouts when ready, usually 1-5 days