Biosnackysprouts Day 8: Lentil Sprouts

Lentil sprouts are some of my favourite, I love these little starchy crunchy sandwich stuffers! 

For day 8 of the biosnackysprouts challenge I'm cooking these little guys up with some eggplant! 

Lentils are super easy to sprout, just wash and soak overnight in a shallow plate of water, they should be half in the water and half exposed (like on a shallow beach!) OR throw them in your A.Vogel biosnacky original sprouter tray and water twice a day along with the other sprouts!

They sprout very quickly, in about 3 days!

- Lentil sprouts (2 tbsp black lentils sprouted in the biosnacky sprouter, takes about 3-4 days) 

- 1/4 red onion, finely minced

- 1 clove garlic, minced

- Olive oil

-Dash of turmeric

-Curry powder (optional!) 

-Salt & black pepper (to taste) 

Fresh mint

-  1 dollop Yogurt

- Sprig of Cilantro 

-1 medium eggplant cut into small cubes

- More olive oil for roasting

- Salt for seasoning eggplant

- Wedge of lemon for squeezing

Salt the eggplant and allow it to release it's water in a strainer (the sink is an ideal place) 

Once most of the water is released simply rinse all the salt off with running water (tasting it is ok to check for excess salt) and using your hands squeeze all the water out. 

Lay on a flat piece of parchment lining a tray and drizzle with olive oil. 

Bake in a preheated oven on 375, they will cook roast fairly quickly. 

Remove and set aside. 

In a saucepan sautee onion until brownish, add garlic and then spices and sautee.  Add sprouts and sautee a little more until lightly wilted. 

Toss eggplant pieces in and add chopped tomatoes too if desired (completely optional) 

Add a squeeze of lemon to your taste. 

Top with yogurt and fresh herbs like mint and cilantro! 

A.Vogel BioSnacky Original Sprouter

Dear readers, allow me to introduce you to my buddy "BioSnacky Original" sprouter by A.Vogel

I'm feeling so fortunate to be part of the thirty blogger participants selected to be a part of this 10 day sprouting challenge using this interesting triple decker sprouter. 

Recently I've been incorporating more healthy posts into my blog, as you've probably all noticed and even though I hardly posted (I think) anything about sprouts I'm actually a big sprouts fan and started sprouting in my mid teens. 

I'm that person who hangs out at the health and wellness trade shows looking for what's new and innovative in the sprouting world. Somewhere around here I've got quite the collection of sprouters but that's all for another day because today (and for the next 9 days) we're going to be using this sprouter and I'll guide you through how to use it and let you know my thoughts about it as well as updates on how the sprouts are doing.  I've got you covered recipe wise too.

Earlier I began by putting the kettle on (a cup of tea is always a good idea!)  Honey and ginseng it was.

Next I took out all the pieces and rinsed them. Following the guidelines I measured out 1 1/2 tablespoon of each seed (it was coincidental that they all had the same measurements in the instructions book and I chose to sprout the mung bean, little radish and alfalfa leaving the fitness mix for the next round)

Taking turns rinsing each seed variety and sprinkling in it's own tray, I then stacked them putting the alfalfa at the bottom (sprouting time is a couple of days longer) and mung bean in the middle with radish at the top.   The red drainage valves are staggered so when you look from above you see all 3 distinctly in a triangle design.

I pour half a litre (about 2 1/4 cups ) of  filtered brita slightly cooler than room temp water (our tap water isn't so good so figured better to be safe). Pouring it into the top tray it slowly trickles down into the next level (its like floors in an apartment building, very cool to watch!)

It moves on to the third level before ultimately collecting in the bottom most vessel, and at this point the instructions mentioned discarding it or using it to water house plants.

I put the lid on top and it's all ready to go until it's next rinse. Luckily again all the seeds need the same similar rinsing times, twice a day, so I'm assuming every 12 hours I will pour half a liter of water into the top again and allow it to filter down nourishing and watering each tier.

If you're interested in purchasing the sprouter you can find it on the A.Vogel site here 
Feel free to follow and join the conversation on twitter under the hashtag #biosnackysprouts

Stay tuned for more!