Find Out How to Sprout Some Sprouts

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

Shoppers may be tempted to pick up a bag of fresh sprouts at the supermarket to add to their salads and maybe even their sandwiches, but sprouts are actually easy to grow at home. The first step is getting a rundown on how to do it. That’s part of what Jill Wittenbrader will provide tonight as part of the Kodiak Public Library’s Kitchen Gardner’s Series.

Of course, sprouts don’t pop out of nowhere. Wittenbrader says they can come from alfalfas, which are plants in the pea family, or even from sunflower seeds.

“A sprout is basically a really little baby plant and, in fact, they’re super powered in nutrition because they’re so small, and when they’re just coming out in the early stages, they have a lot of different enzymes and vitamins. Not that they don’t when they’re bigger, but it’s a bit more concentrated because they’re powered up to grow big.”

Wittenbrader says they’re easy to make and her process is to dump two tablespoons of seeds into one quart of water.

“Basically, within five to seven days, you can have beautiful sprouts to eat. They grow within that period of time, you soak them for a period of time, and then you just rinse them twice a day, and it’s something as simple as a mason jar and some cheese cloth.”

She says the method is pretty cost effective.

“Especially if you’ve bought sprouts in the grocery store before. They’re actually quite expensive, so this is a lot cheaper and it’s a lot fresher. There’s concern with the grocery store about sprouts sometimes with bacteria and stuff like that. I mean, they just go bad like anything else, so to have them nice and fresh in your kitchen is gonna maximize the taste and also the nutrition.”

Wittenbrader’s class will begin tonight at 6 p.m. in the Kodiak Public Library.