When a friend sent me the blog link from Honest Fair on growing your own sprouts I knew I would be trying this soon.  That is when I finally remembered to buy lentils and then remembered to get cheese cloth.

I looked at several sprouting jars but decided to try using a jar and cheese cloth  first before investing.  I also visited a few other websites to see what they had to say about sprouting lentils.  One website said they taste like fresh peas.  Fresh peas, I am on board with that one!

Beside the taste and fun of sprouting here is a quote from Honest Fair:

I looked up the nutritional values and for 1 cup of sprouts and you get  1% of vitamin A, 2% calcium, 21% vitamin C, and 14% iron of the daily recommendations.

I started with 1/2 cup of  dry lentils and soaked them over night.  The next day they were already starting to sprout.  I really had way too many lentils and will start with 1/4 cup next time.  I rinsed them and placed them in a quart jar with cheese cloth and rubber band.

I rinsed them 2-3 times a day with water.  The most important part of this step (and why some use sprouting jars) is that I needed to get most of the water out after rinsing.  When they first sprout this step is easy but, as they grow and fill the jar this gets harder.  I turned the jar upside down into a 2 cup glass measuring cup and let it drain for about 10 minutes and this drained a lot of the water.  If you leave the lentils too wet they can become slimy and start molding.

I kept rinsing my sprouts daily until leaves begin to appear.  I took the spouts out of the jar (very hard because they were packed in) rinsed them again and then layed them on a towel to dry out some.  I then put them into a container and popped them in the fridge.

Most websites I looked at said they will last up to a week.  Some websites say to put a damp paper towel on the bottom but I will try it without to see what results I get.

These sprouts can be used in salad, wraps and can even be cooked in a stir fry.