aduki beans. Or you can buy some ready-made mixes of seeds and beans, which take the same amount of time to sprout.
Put half a cupful of your chosen beans or seeds into your jar, cover with cold water and leave to soak for 8–12 hours. Put the piece of muslin or J cloth over the top of the jar. Then drain off the water, fill the jar with fresh water, swish it round and then pour it all out again. All this can be done without removing the muslin or J cloth, which prevents the seeds or beans falling out. This rinsing has to be repeated twice a day, to keep the seeds damp (but they mustn’t be left soaking in water or they’ll rot rather than sprout). When I’m sprouting seeds, I keep them by the sink to remind me about the rinsing. They’re ready when they’re grown a little tail – usually in 2–4 days. They can be used straight away, added to salads and sandwiches, or kept in the fridge for several days.
Salads
Aigroissade
I love this French chickpea and vegetable salad, but with its creamy mayonnaise dressing it’s too high in fat and calories to enjoy very often. So I’ve gradually evolved ways of lightening it up. Chargrilled artichoke hearts can be bought from the deli section of any large supermarket.
SERVES 4–6
125g (4oz) chickpeas, soaked and cooked until tender or 400g can
350g (12oz) each of cooked carrots and cooked cut green beans
tub of chargrilled artichoke hearts
6 rounded tbsp natural yoghurt
6 rounded tbsp mayonnaise
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper crisp lettuce and watercress
chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, to garnish
Drain the chickpeas and put them into a large bowl with the carrots and beans.
Halve the artichoke hearts and add them to the bowl.
To make the dressing, put the yoghurt, mayonnaise, garlic and vinegar into a small bowl and mix well together until creamy. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour the dressing over the vegetables and mix carefully until everything is well coated.
Line a serving dish with lettuce leaves and watercress, spoon the vegetable mixture on top and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Alfalfa slaw v
SERVES 4–6
450g (1lb) grated cabbage
2 carrots, grated
125g (4oz) alfalfa sprouts
Mix together all the vegetables, then add enough vinaigrette to moisten.
Avocado and mushroom salad v
Made with fresh, tightly closed button mushrooms and ripe avocado, this is delicious.
SERVES 4
450g (1lb) baby button mushrooms
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 avocados
2 tbsp lemon juice
1–2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
Wash the mushrooms, pat dry on kitchen paper and slice thinly. Put the slices into a bowl, add the vinegar, olive oil and some salt and pepper, and mix well. Leave to one side for 1 hour.
Just before you want to serve the salad, halve each avocado, remove the stone and peel. Cut the flesh into fairly large dice and sprinkle with the lemon juice.
Add to the mushrooms, together with the chopped chives, and mix gently.
Sprouted bean salad with carrots and spring onions v
In this salad, sprouted beans are combined with grated carrots, tomatoes, watercress and spring onions. It’s very vitalising!
SERVES 4
2 handfuls of mixed sprouts such as mung, chickpea, aduki and sunflower
350g (12oz) carrots, coarsely grated
4 large tomatoes, sliced
small bunch of spring onions, chopped
120g packet mixed baby leaf salad
80g packet watercress
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix gently. Add enough vinaigrette to moisten the salad and make it glisten. Season with a little salt and pepper and serve.
VARIATION
Layered sprouted bean salad with tahini dressing v
This is particularly attractive arranged in layers in a glass bowl, with tahini dressing poured over the top.
Beansprout, mushroom and celery salad with coriander v
This is a bit like a salad stir-fry! You could even serve it with some hot cooked rice or noodles.
SERVES 4
1 stick of celery, finely sliced
225g (8oz) beansprouts
175g (6oz) very fresh button mushrooms, finely sliced
a bunch of spring onions, sliced
a small bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
grated rind and juice
