I actually knew about sprouts a long, long time ago, and believe I may have attempted sprouting some beans. However, I had a hard time remembering to rinse the beans, so they never sprouted.
A few weeks ago, I hit the legume jackpot. Way in the back by the stinky bottle return, they had piles of beans on sale- some of them half off. I grabbed a variety of beans, along with some different kinds of rice and two bags of $0.69 lentils.
Upon arriving home, I got on the internet to look for some lentil recipes. That's when I discovered that lentils can be sprouted. Whoa! I had been looking for some cheap 'greens' to incorporate into our meal plan, and it seemed like the perfect fit. The best part? At 69 cents per pound of lentils, an entire jar of sprouts costs... wait for it.... $0.07. I think that's pretty cool.
Sprouting is pretty easy.
1. Pour 1/3 cup of lentils in a quart jar. Use cheesecloth instead of a metal lid; screw the metal ring over the cheesecloth.
2. Add 2 cups of water.
3. Let the lentils soak overnight, then pour out water.
4. Every morning, rinse the beans. After a few days they should start to germinate. Then keep rinsing daily until they are sprouted enough for your taste.
5. Store the jar of sprouted sprouts in the refrigerator.
In addition to using sprouts in salad, you can also put them on sandwiches or in stir fry. Different sprouts have different tastes though, so think twice about dumping a whole fistful of lentil sprouts in your chili (really, don't try it). Hubs commented that our lentil sprouts tasted like peas. This is wonderful for pea-friendly dishes (like stir fry), but not great for things like tacos or chili. Use your own judgement.
Have you tried sprouting? How did it turn out?