Vitamins, Minerals, Enzymes: A great way not to cook all that out of your food is to sprout. 
It is inexpensive and, I find, not that time-consuming.  After you have read this, go to search
and enter "Sprouting".  Wikipedia has an extensive list and references to seeds you can 
    All you need: About four wide-mouth pint jars, some well washed old stockings, rubber
bands.  Cut the stockings into 5" lengths.  No stockings available?  Several layers of gauze
will do. Just make sure pieces big enough to stretch over jar opening.
    Method: Place 1-3 tablespoons of one type of sprout in jar.  Stretch stocking over top,
 using rubber band to hold in place. Rinse.  Add 3x amount of water and let soak 8 hours. 
Pour water off through stocking.  Rinse and pour again. (Save this water for indoor plants.) 
Place jars on their sides on a plate.  Rinse and drain again abt. 8 hrs. later.  This rotates
the seed.  Very important.
    Timing:  Some seeds take a little time, such as alfalfa.  In abt. 3 days, when the seeds
sprout, you may want to place them in a sunny window for a day, just to green them up. 
Just don't forget them, as they will dry up quickly.  Garbonzo or chick peas should be soft
enough to throw on a salad in one or two days.  Great crunchability*  I would not make
too much, as it spoils after about three days even if refrigerated.  This is an easy sprout to
deal
with, however. Ready for eating usually overnight.    
    Refrigeration: When the sprouts are indeed sprouts, remove stocking and place lids on
jars.  Can refrigerate for several days.  Once you get started, you can wash out and
replenish seed jars, one or two at a time.  
    A Word About Alfalfa Seeds: They are kept under refrigeration at the health food store. 
You should do the same.  I try to store everything in glass jars.  You can store most seeds
indefininately. Who knows what evil lurks in plastic! 
    Uses:  Salads, sandwiches.  Place on top of soup after heating.  (If you cook sprouts,
you lose some nutrients.)  I must confess, I jazz up soup by grating Locatelli cheese on top. 
And I add a little Vermont real butter to multigrain bread.  Don't ask, don't tell my doctor.
 
Try it.

*Whole nuts are off my diet because of diverticulosis.  The sprouted garbonzo beans 
help fill the void.   


11/26/07: One of the things you can sprout is brocolli.  It is a bit expensive, so I eat the
cooked variety.  When I go to a local restaurant, I get a fishwich on toasted Texas bread. 
The side I ask for (in place of French fries) is brocolli.  I use the tartar sauce as a dip for
these.  This may be a way to get the kids to eat their veggies.  Tasty.



A local herb farm.  You may have something like this in your neighborhood.