Sunflower sprouts
Eat your greens.Admit it. You don't like to eat greens, do you? Most of us don't. Did you really think the lettuce in the double-decker cheeseburger you had last night counts? It doesn't. I, myself, used to subsist on a lot of take out and frozen dinners. I used to joke about how salt, fat and sugar were the three most important food groups. Believe me, I ate enough of that stuff to kill a horse (ok, maybe a small dog). Then, I got hit with a godawful food allergy (gluten) and now I have to watch what I eat. I know that for most people, fresh greens are an acquired taste if they aren't slathered in cheese, salty/sweet sauces or accompanied by something that used to have a heartbeat. I used to feel the same way. I won't lie, greens are bland/bitter as hell and it takes a while to grow accustomed to eating them relatively unadorned. Also, most of us - including high end restauranteurs - don't know how to prepare them in an interesting manner while retaining their nutritional value. Biggest mistake we make is oversalting or - *gasp* - overcooking them. There's nothing worse than a plate of limp, grey broccoli or asparagus. If you grew up on that shit, it's hard to get past it as an adult.
Still, you have to try. No other type of food quite matches greens in terms of the benefits they afford, and they act as a natural buffer between disease and health. Think of them as the world's cheapest pharmaceuticals. Yes, I know they're a pain in the ass to prepare, especially if you're busy, lazy or suffer from a deficit of culinary skills. How come grocers don't get that not everyone needs 5 lbs of kale in one shot? Even if you like the occasional salad, most of us have lettuce wilting in the fridge right now. This is why the true purpose of this post is to introduce you to the wonderful world of sprouts.
Don't give me that face. Sprouts are awesome. They're nutrient dense like dark, leafy greens (kale, mustard, collard etc.) but they're not as bitter and don't require cooking which means they retain all of the beneficial enzymes that aid in digestion. If you buy them fresh, they'll keep up to two weeks in the fridge and you can grab a handful of them whenever you want. If you're really dedicated to eating well, you can take a bunch to work in a Ziploc bag and toss them into a pre-made soup, salad or sandwich (lunch spots usually only carry brownish alfalfa that's way past its prime). I haven't tried them all, but my faves so far are garlic, onion, pea and sunflower. Sunflower sprouts are mild with a hint of sunflower seed flavour, aren't prone to mold like some of the other, more densely-packed varieties aaand are 300 times more nutritous than spinach. How about that? One day - when my inner Martha finally wakes up - I'll grow my own, but for now I buy mine at Whole Foods. Some guy named "Uncle George" grows them, clips them and packages them for me; I trust he knows what he's doing.
In conclusion, eat the damned sprouts. They play well with others, so that even though you may think they don't taste as good as a burger, they taste great in a burger. See how that works? Now let's talk about organic beef and ethical animal rearing practices...
+Types of Sprouts
+How to Grow Sunflower Sprouts
+Secret Super Foods
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Paul Walker
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