Love those Sprouts!

You must have heard about sprouts and how good they are for your body. They are packed with easy-to-digest protein and a good deal of vitamins and minerals, in addition to being low in calories and carbs. They have the highest nutrition value when they are eaten raw, as with most veggies.

The good thing about sprouts is that you can actually "grow" them right in your kitchen! Take mung bean sprouts, for instance: take a handful of dried mung beans, wash them and soak them in water overnight. Then transfer them into a muslin cloth (or any thin wash cloth kind of cloth) and tie it up. Keep the cloth damp- leave it (they say in dark) for about 8-10 hours and make sure the cloth is damp throughout. This will aid in germination. Ta-da! At the end of the germination period, you will have "grown" some beautiful mung bean sprouts. Easy!

Luckily for me, the Indian store I go to carries mung bean sprouts- all ready to use. Not that I can't make them myself at home.......but you know, when it is available out there, might as well get it!

Here's a very simple mung bean salad recipe. All you need is a couple carrots, a handful of mung bean sprouts, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Yep, that is all!

1. I grate the carrots. If I am in the mood, I hand-grate them, else I just use the food-processor.

Grated Carrots

2. I open that little package of sprouts and give them a quick wash.
3. I throw in the washed sprouts onto the grated carrots. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice as per taste and mix it all up.

Mung Bean Sprouts

Mung Bean+Carrot Salad

4. And the salad is ready to eat!

Isn't this an extremely simple and fast recipe? The end product is extremely healthy too. You can go all creative and add other ingredients to this salad. Pomegranate seeds would be a great addition. You could throw in finely chopped onions, tomatoes, cucumber etc--- endless possibilities.

Go grab some sprouts today. Even better, "grow" them yourself in your very own kitchen. You will be proud of yourself!