Sprouting itself is ancient. Mung bean sprouts, for example, had been eaten in Asia for centuries. But the distinctly American idea of growing sprouts in a jar on the kitchen counter as a health practice started back with the natural-food, vegetarian, back-to-the-land and counterculture movements of the 1960s–70s.

Connie and I have gone through numerous cycles of sprouting a lot and then not so much over the years. With Connie's return from the Hippocrates Institute, we're back to sprouting A LOT. 😎

Join us to hear more.

If you’ve never grown your own sprouts, you might be surprised at just how easy it is. You don’t need any fancy equipment—just a glass jar, a screened sprouting lid or piece of mesh, some seeds or beans, and water.

Start with about 1–2 tablespoons of small seeds, such as alfalfa or broccoli, or about ¼ cup of larger beans or lentils. Put them in a clean quart-size jar, cover them generously with water, and let them soak. Small seeds generally need about 4–8 hours, while beans and lentils can soak for 8–12 hours.

Then pour off the soaking water and rinse with cool water and drain them well. From this point on, there’s really not much to it. Two or three times a day—morning, midday and evening—fill the jar with cool water, swish everything around, and drain it thoroughly.Leave the jar tilted at an angle between rinsings so any excess water can drain out and air can circulate.

And then you simply watch them grow!

Most sprouts are ready in 2–5 days, depending on what you’re growing and how mature you like them. Lentils and mung beans are delicious when the little root is still fairly short. Alfalfa and broccoli sprouts are usually grown longer, until they develop their first small leaves. At that point, giving them some indirect sunlight will help the leaves turn green, providing the nutritional benefit of chlorophyll.

When they look ready, give them one last good rinse, drain them thoroughly, and store them in the refrigerator.

That’s really all there is to it: Soak → Drain → Rinse 2-3 times a day → Watch them grow → Enjoy!

There’s something wonderfully satisfying about sprouting your own food. You start with a tablespoon or two of tiny, dry seeds that don’t look like much, add nothing but water and a little attention, and within a few days you have a jar overflowing with fresh, living food.

One important precaution: the warm, moist environment that helps sprouts grow can also encourage bacteria to grow. Use seeds intended for sprouting, keep your jar and equipment very clean, and refrigerate them promptly when they’re finished.

So, why sprout?

A seed may look dormant, but once we add water, an amazing transformation begins. The seed wakes up and starts becoming a plant.

During germination, enzymes become active, stored starches and proteins begin to break down, some vitamins and beneficial plant compounds increase, and compounds that can interfere with digestion and mineral absorption decrease. Also, the sprout and raw food enthusiasts feel that the "life-force energy" in the sprouts provides additional "life-force energy" to our bodies.

This makes sprouts a very unique and interesting food. We're eating the plant at a unique stage of its life, just as all of the machinery needed for growth has switched on.

At the Hippocrates Institute, sprouts are considered one of the foundations of their living-foods program, and they encourage eating a generous variety of them every day.

Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of sprouts is their simplicity: with nothing more than seeds, water and a few minutes of attention each day, we can grow fresh food right on the kitchen counter. That's pretty hard to beat!

The recipe this week is a Pear Dressing, which is fabulous on a salad with lots of sprouts. We created it because we have lots of pears around the house now, this being pear season in the Okanagan, and were looking for something new to add them too. This is a real keeper. Give it a try, we think you'll like it.

To your Amazing Health,

Connie and Bill

Pear Dressing

• 4 – 5 ripe pears, cored
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• 1 cup cashews
• 3 tablespoons hemp seeds
• 1 cup filtered water
• 1 tablespoon No Salt seasoning
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender for 60 seconds until smooth. Add more water if dressing needs thinning.

Enjoy.