Making your own quinoa sprouts is easy and inexpensive. Once they have sprouted you can make a delicious Sprouted Quinoa Salad with Avocado Dressing.
When I was at the local health food store, they had a 4 ounce container of "mixed sprouts" (peas and lentils) for $2.49. I made 8 ounces of lentil sprouts for about 25 cents.
A quick search for "growing sprouts" turned up a slew of sites, some of which recommended specific water temperatures and sprouting vessels etc. I just know what worked for me - you may need to tweak it.
I used a very simple sprouting jar and method.
- I poured 4 ounces of quinoa into a quart sized Ball/Mason quart jar and 4 ounces of lentils into another and then filled both with cold tap water to the 8 ounce line.
- I topped each with a square of cheese cloth and secured with a rubber band and stuck them in a cupboard (out of toppling range of the ultra curious soon to be 5 year old and temperature variations).
- About 8 hours later I emptied the water, rinsed and put the seeds back in the jars without any water.
- The next morning the quinoa had already started sprouting! The lentils had no visible sprouts but had doubled in volume.
- About 4 hours later I made the Quinoa Salad and Avocado Dressing for lunch. I ended up with about 8 ounces of sprouted quinoa, I think.
- Before bed (12 hours-ish from the last rinse) I rinsed the lentils again and they had the makings of tiny sprouts.
- By morning, the lentils had sprouted. I rinsed them and left them another 12 hours.
For the Quinoa Salad, use whatever ingredients are fresh and in season! Don't overspend on a tomato in December that won't end up tasting very good anyway. I didn't have jicama or cucumber, but I did have radishes so I went with that. I made it with this Creamy Avocado Dressing, but feel free to top with your favorite
Sprouted Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups sprouted quinoa
- ½ cucumber (peeled, seeded and chopped)
- 1 red pepper (seeded and chopped)
- 1 tomato (chopped)
- 1 stalk celery (thinly sliced)
- 1 carrot (grated)
- ¼ cup jicama (chopped)
- ½ cup cilantro (parsley or basil)
Instructions
Sprouting the Quinoa
- Rinse quinoa then put into a large jar and cover completely with tap water. Cover with cheese cloth secured with a rubber band.
- Let soak for 8 hours. Empty the water and rinse the quinoa. Put back in the jar without additional water and secure with cheese cloth.
- Let sit for approximately 12-24 hours, quinoa should be sprouted.
Salad
- Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and stir in Avocado Dressing, or other dressing of your choice. Salad is ready to serve, or you can let sit in the refrigerator for a few hours to allow the flavors to mix.
Notes
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Until next time, happy eating.
~Audrey
Queen of Quinoa
Thanks for sharing how to make quinoa sprouts. I have yet to try it, but think they would be delicious!
I would love for you to share this recipe over at Thank Goodness It's Quinoa, a bi-weekly link party celebrating all things quinoa. I know our readers would enjoy this just as much as I have.
Here's the link: http://www.queenofquinoa.me/2013/03/thank-goodness-its-quinoa-tgiq-6/
ope to see you there! Happy Friday 🙂
Alyssa
Linda @ Axiom at Home
I really loved that you shared your technique for sprouting quinoa and lentils. I generally just soak, because sprouting seems so hard 🙂 but this made it sound very simple. Great recipe.
biggsis
I never thought of sprouting quinoa. Thanks for sharing and the salad sounds great 🙂
Ashley
Interesting! I didn't know you could sprout quinoa that way! Thanks for sharing on FTAF!