Salad Alfalfa

by Darren Collins
Sunday, 11 November 2001

25 Nov 2001

Buying seed in the small Yates packets turns out to be expensive - you need to use at least a couple of teaspoons of seed to get a useful quantity of sprouts. I'm going to try and get a larger seed packet from a health food shop or a nursery.

I've found that when you rinse the alfalfa, the shoots float to the top and the unsprouted seeds sink to the bottom of the jar. This makes it a lot easier to separate them for serving.

Salad Alfalfa. Alfalfa or lucerne is a real health food. It is rich in many nutrients, has high levels of vitamins and minerals. Excellent to eat in salads, sandwiches or with many dishes.

How To Use: Use a large coffee or jam jar.

Place the seed in the jar, soak in tepid water for about 3 hours, covering the top of the jar with either muslin, cheesecloth or a cotton handkerchief.
Pour off the water, placing the jar on a slant which will allow good drainage and ventilation.
Fill the jar twice a day with tepid water, shake well and then drain off.
In about 3-5 days, sprouts should be ready to be eaten.
Once sprouted, sprouts can be refrigerated for about one week without losing flavour, provided they are placed in an airtight container.

18 Nov 2001: I started another batch, with about twice as much seed this time.

17 Nov 2001: Ate the alfalfa. There was only a few forkfulls, though - next time I'll use a lot more!

11 Nov 2001: I soaked about half a teaspoon of alfalfa seeds in water to start the germination process, then poured them into a glass jar with a piece of fine gauze over the top. I drained them, then rinsed them twice a day. About 6 days later, the alfalfa was ready to eat. There wasn't very much, though - next time I'll use a lot more seed!