Pasta with Sprouted Lentils, Mushrooms and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (moist pack, not in oil)
2 cups sprouted lentils
4 cups fresh spinach leaves
1 medium onion, sliced
4 large cloves garlic, chopped fine
Salt & Pepper
8 oz. pasta
1  1/2  Tbsp olive oil
Parmesan cheese (optional)
red pepper flakes (optional)

This recipe just "happened" because it's what I happened to have in the fridge at the time.  The result was very yummy and light, and a great way to use your sprouted lentils.

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add a tsp of salt.  Add the pasta, and cook until tender.  Drain.

Add the spinach and lentils last to keep
lentils crunchy.

Heat your wok.  Add olive oil til heated, then add onion and garlic.  Cook til fragrant.  Add mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes.  Stir cooking until soft.  Add spinach leaves next and stir til wilted.  Lastly, add your sprouted lentils.  You don't want to cook them too long because they have a nice crispy crunch that you'd like to keep.  Stir, turn off heat.

Add the drained pasta to the vegetable mixture.  Stir together.  Serve in bowls with parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes, if desired.  Makes 4 servings (about 1 1/2 cups each)

It's best to get everything prepped ahead of time.

I use my walk for all kinds of cooking.  It's my favorite pan in the kitchen.  Here are a couple nonstick woks in case you're looking.

  

How to Sprout Legumes (and Make Your Own Sprouting Device)

If you know me, you know that I have really gotten into sprouting lately.  I have ready sprouts in my fridge, I just finished the lentil sprouts that have been sprouting 3 days, and I have mung beans and seeds in the works right now.

Last Friday, my daughter came to pick me up from work.  I asked her to make a quick stop at OSH so we could figure out how to make our own sprouting jar.  We walked out with some mason jars and some plastic screening.  A simple contraption that works great.

Here's all you need for legume sprouting (you will need a much smaller mesh for tiny seed sprouting).
1 mason jar (1 quart size) with ring top
1 piece of plastic mesh screen.
Cut the screen to go over the mouth of the jar and get held down by the rim.
Here's what it looks like:        

Grab a bag of lentils from the market.  Any ol' lentils will do (dry).  Put about a 1/2 cup of dry lentils into the jar.  Fill with water, and allow to stand for 12 hours.  The next morning, when you wake up, drain the water through the screen, add clean water.  Agitate lentils a little, drain, add some fresh water and drain again.
Once you've got all the excess water out, tip your jar into a bowl to keep it draining...and throw a dishtowel on it to make the lentils dark.

In 8-12 hours, repeat the rinse and drain process.  After the first
day you'll notice sprouts.  After that it seems like they really take off.  You'll want to harvest your sprouts in about 3 days when the roots are about 1/2 " long.

When they're the desired length open your jar and dump the lentils into a bowl. Fill with water and allow the hulls to come to the top.  Remove the hulls, drain, and now you're ready to eat them raw (very nutritious and high in protein) or use them in your favorite recipes.  Let me know if I wasn't clear or if you have any questions.  Happy Sprouting!
         

Anush's Sprouted Lentil & Garbanzo Bean Curry with Ginger/Cilantro/Lemon Sauce

I have been having a lot of fun sprouting my own sprouts.  On Friday, I started my first batch of sprouted lentils.  The sprout really quickly, and "GROW" (from 1/4 cup dry to 2 1/4 cups in just 3 days).  So once I had the sprouts, I needed to figure out what to do with them, so I started searching the web.  I found the basic idea behind this recipe at www.thenourishinggourmet.com, and though I did modify the curry recipe, the sauce - which is what makes the recipe - came from the Nourishing Gourmet site.

2 1/4 cups sprouted lentils (sprouted 3 days) - tails are about 1/2 " in length)
1 - 15 oz can garbanzo beans
1 tsp. Olive Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbsp. red pepper paste (you can purchase this at the Middle Eastern store)
2 tbsp curry powder
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp allspice
3 large cloves garlic (pressed)

Sauce:
1 bunch cilantro leaves (removed stems)
1 clove garlic
Juice from one medium lemon
salt, to taste
Fresh Ginger, peeled and grated to a heaping 1 Tbsp

I started out sprouting 1/4 cup dry lentils (for 3 days) creating 2 1/4 cups of fresh sprouts.  Rinse and drain sprouts.

In a wok, or deep nonstick pan, add 1 tsp olive oil and saute the chopped onion.  Stirring, cooking about 4 minutes.  Add chopped or pressed garlic.  Add curry powder, allspice and 1 1/2 cups water.  Mix and cook about 2 minutes.  Add the sprouted lentils and one can of drained garbanzo beans.  Cook stirring every few minutes to get the flavors to mix.

In a food processor, process one bunch of cilantro, 1 clove of garlic, 1 tablespoon or more of fresh grated ginger, salt (to taste) and the juice of one medium lemon.  If you like spicy food, I added about 6 fat slices of jalapeno slices.  Process the whole thing.  It's going to be very pungeant, tart, tangy, garlicky...but a perfect combo to the creamy lentil/garbanzo texture.  Serve on top of your bowl of curry.  You may want to make extra of this sauce because i

One serving - 1 2/3 cup = 7 points plus (I know it seems like a lot of points, but it's very satisfying.).
Makes 3 servings

Serve with a salad.
Please let me know how your recipe turns out.  I'd love to know if you liked it as much as I did.
**********************************

I found this interesting:  There are so many different types of garlic presses.  You don't need anything fancy, but you do need something good and sturdy.  I have one I picked up at IKEA....uh, not too good...but then again, it was only $3.  I'd be more inclined to get the one of these on the left...the one on the righ looks a little nut crackery, and the ones in the middle?  too hard to clean.  Click if you're interested in seeing more.