Well, what better way to start the blog for my new website than by describing the goodness of sprouting! Since seeds and nuts are at the beginning of their lifecycle, their energy is fresh and adventurous, making you burst with enthusiasm to explore and develop, and start new things.  This being the first blogs of hopefully many, I hope to create an ongoing positive discussion about food, health and wellbeing. This blog is a reflection of what is going on in my own kitchen spiced up with hopefully useful information which will inspire many in exploring healthy eating.

Seeds and nuts have lots of good properties in them, but gather a whole lot of other useful properties when sprouted.  The protein in seeds and nuts will increase by 15-30%, as will most of their B vitamins, especially B1 and B3.  Interesting is also that ungerminated seeds contain no vitamin C, unless you start to sprout them! Ungerminated seeds contain phytate, which makes it difficult to absorb Calcium, Iron and Zinc. Sprouting diminishes these levels of phytate, thus making the absorption of these minerals higher.

Sprouting is also very economical! With little work, you provide yourself with a good batch of fresh vegetables any time of the year, no sun or soil needed. Needless to say, they are also a very cheap supply of organic food as well!

This clip shows you how to make your own sprouts using a jar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRwzQYq6dOs&feature=related

Many seeds can be sprouted, the most popular of course, are alfalfa seeds, wheatgrass and mung beans. If mung beans are sprouted in a dark place, they stay white. These popular sprouts are used in stir fries and in salads. Alfalfa seeds, sunflower seeds and broccoli sprouts are delicious on a sandwich or in a salad. Wheatgrass is used for juicing.  Google for instructions of how to sprout your choice of nuts, seeds and legumes.

Below is a recipe for a salad:

High Enzyme Salad

1 cup of sprouted sunflower seeds

4 small carrots, grated

1 cucumber, deseeded and slices very thinly

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

Half a bunch of spring onion, or a medium size red onion

1 avocado, sliced

Cos lettuce

Dressing

1 part of white balsamic vinegar

1 part and a bit of olive oil

Salt, pepper, mirin

Dollop of mustard (optional)

Mix everything together

Mix everything gently, except the cos lettuce. Arrange the cos lettuce, on a plate, and put the salad mixture on top. Pour the dressing over it.