A SALE FOR US PEASANTS
February seems to be Lentil Month this year. Last time it was our limited supply (there are still some few left) of the rare Eston Lentil - - this time it’s a 20% off sale on our lovely, lentily Peasant Mix. From now through March 4 you can enjoy this delight at a steep discount.
While we’re talking Lentils - please allow us to share - again - a couple of our favorite lentil based recipes (we have dozens of recipes for all sorts of crops)…
Sprouted Bean Rice Pot
One of the simplest recipes in the world, this has been Gil's (that's me) staple food for many a moon. I Have lived off this for months at a time - more than once. Peasant Mix on brown rice, with Gomashio. MMMmmmMMmmm, this is good! If you're new to Gomashio (a staple of Japanese cuisine) you're in for a treat. It may become a necessary condiment in your kitchen, as it has in our's.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup of bean sprouts - our favorite is Crimson Lentils, but Peasant Mix, San Francisco Mix, Beanie's Awesome Mix, or others may please you more
Pot of Rice
Gomashio is made from:
1/4 cup raw sesame seeds (not hulled)
1/2 Tbs. sea salt (more or less - to taste)
DIRECTIONS
Make a pot of rice.
While the rice is cooking, make the Gomashio:
Heat a skillet (we like cast iron) over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes.
Add the sesame seeds and stir continuously until they pop and turn golden brown - 1 - 2 minutes.
Remove the sesame seeds and grind with salt - we use a mortar and pestle, which works quite nicely.
Grind to desired consistency. We like it course. You may also just mix it up and use it that way. Grinding is optional.
Throw a big handful of your chosen Sprouts into your rice pot for the last 2-5 minutes of cooking, or mix the sprouts in when your rice is done. I like mine raw, so that's the way I do it.
Transfer the Sprouts & Rice to bowls and sprinkle generously with Gomashio.
Notes:
Cook the sprouts less - or even better, not at all - for higher nutrition.
This dish is a complete protein.
You can, of course, alter the proportions as desired. Sometimes one wants more or less of this or that. It's all good. VERY Good!
Add some veggies to the pot of rice the lat 5 minutes to steam lightly.
We often top with sliced avacado and a little hummus too.
Curried Lentil Sprout Salad
This dish is a favorite at our annual Block Party. It's a pretty decadent dressing, but ooooh, it is really, Really Good!
INGREDIENTS
1 cup Crimson Lentil Sprouts, French Blue Lentils, Green Lentils, or Peasant Mix
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbs. ketchup
2 Tbs. olive oil
1/4 tsp. dill weed
1/2 smallish red onion - diced
1/2 - 1 Tbs. curry powder
salt + pepper to taste
1 tomato - diced
DIRECTIONS
Chop veggies.
Mix all ingredients (except tomato) together by tossing gently.
Sprinkle diced tomato on top.
Notes:
If this recipe doesn't prove that you can do ANYthing with sprouts, I don't know what will.
Feel free to substitute yogurt for the mayo and another tomato based product for the ketchup - it is your kitchen after all!
Be sure to watch some of the folks first reactions when they taste this, and prepare yourself to tell them about it. They will be asking.
We triple or quadruple this recipe for our parties. It is extremely popular.
Lori makes this with a vinaigrette instead of the mayo and tomato product sometimes. This is a very easy recipe to play around with.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
I (Gil) was expecting to have a new video for you - Sprouting Broccoli in a Jar - but alas I’ve not had time to edit it. I’m currently dealing with a dental issue that is taking valuable time - and wouldn’t you know it - we had a spring weekend that just passed - and as it was 70° for multiple days - I had to spend some time in the garden. Planting begins very soon here in San Francisco, so I had a good excuse, right? But, I’ll hope to find the time and get that video done - hopefully by our next Newsletter.
A customer of ours invented an elegant holder that allows for the centrifugal Draining of an Easy Sprout Sprouter - and he’s just made another - for Quart Jars. We’re hoping to share pictures and his video of the Easy Sprout version in an upcoming Newsletter. Perhaps it’s silly to ask you without showing you - but tell us - does this sound like something you’d want? We’re only asking about the Easy Sprout one, for now.
4 LEGGED KIDS
The boys have been enjoying our (virtually) annual Spring in February days, here in San Francisco. The City itself is off the charts gonzo nowadays - but the geography remains perfection - and when the weather is like it is currently - it’s absolutely lovely - in the sane parts of town, at least.
Essentials for those new to the world of Indoor Farming...
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPROUTS AND MICROGREENS
To us the difference is that with Sprouts we grow with nothing but water and we eat the entire crop (with the possible exception of hulls and roots that grow out the bottom of our Stainless Steel Sprouters) - and they are alive when we eat them. Microgreens are grown on a medium and we harvest them by cutting them just above that medium - at which point they move from alive to not. Raw, great, delicious - just not alive.
While I'm on this subject I need to explain why we have two different names for the same seed - like Broccoli Sprouts and Broccoli Microgreens. This is the same seed. The difference is that each crop has its own page - you go to the Broccoli Sprouts page to learn how to grow the seed into Sprouts and you go to the Broccoli Microgreens page to learn how to grow it into Micros.
This seed will also grow a full sized - which is like 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide - Broccoli plant in a garden - given the proper climate and encouragement.
SEED STORAGE
If you don't yet know how to get the longest life for your seeds - and prevent pests - Â visit our Seed Storage page. The best way to store seeds is in the freezer, but do not use the refrigerator as its humidity fluctuations can harm seeds. There's a bit more to it - so perhaps just visit the page =;-)
Grow to Live - Live to Grow.
Be well and happy.
Gil + Lori
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Sproutpeople.org is an encyclopedic resource of our creation - for indoor farmers of Sprouts, Microgreens, and Grass. It is so enormous that it gives some  the impression that we are a big business. The reality is that we are basically 2 people who eat and breath Sproutpeople - and 2 part-time helpers (one being our son). Our site has been online since 1996. It's the employee that allows us to serve all of you.
In addition to a section that teaches the Basics of Sprouting and Growing, a goodly section of Recipes, a bunch of Videos, and a whole lot more -
Every Seed and Mix we offer has a profoundly detailed page devoted to it. Those pages feature two sets of Growing Instructions (Brief for the experienced and Detailed for the not yet experienced), a Video, Photos of the crop growing day-by-day, Recipes, Crop Specific Notes, Nutrition Info, and quite a bit more. Each of our Supplies also has a detailed page.
Our vast content is organized with Tabs (on computer) and Pull-Down Menus (on mobile devices).  Click/Choose, for example Detailed Instructions on the page you go to when you click any of the pictures surrounding this text - and you will be presented Seriously Detailed Instructions. Click around. Growing Photos. Notes. Recipes. Please let us share what we know.
We survive by selling on the internet, but we live to educate anyone who wants to learn about growing sprouts and microgreens. Learning is what the internet was actually built for, so we're really just doing our part.
Please enjoy sproutpeople.org
Every time I see an email sitting in my inbox from Sproutpeople I get excited! Between your valuable informative articles along with your photos of your pets and others I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to put together these emails. I also enjoy your videos, talk all you want I enjoy every bit of instruction you give. Give your pets a hug for me. Kristine