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Post by nana on Mar 7, 2020 14:08:20 GMT -5
When sprouted, ordinary old lentils become juicy, crunchy and fresh; a living vegetable full of enzymes and even better for you. They are really delicious in a chopped salad with a lemon and olive oil vinaigrette!
If you are an old hand at sprouting alfalfa or broccoli seeds, just soak the lentils in water for an hour or so, drain, then place them in whatever sprouting tray or set-up you may have. If you're new to this, you can place the soaked and drained lentils on a damp clean dish towel or paper towels in a baking dish or other flat pan, and cover with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out. Keep them moist for a day or three at room temperature and you will see a little white tail peeking out one side of the lentil seeds. At this point they have sprouted and you can use them. I like to let the tail get a little bigger, like one more day, and my daughter prefers hers to actually be showing the first leaves. It works any way you like it!
1 cup of dry lentils will give you about a cup and a half to two cups of sprouted--depending on how long you let them go. The lentils and the dressing are the main things, so I use a ratio of around 1/2 to 2/3 lentils and the other half or third chopped vegetables. You can use pretty much any other veggies you like, but I think at a minimum you should have some red onion, scallions, bell peppers and cucumbers for that Mediterranean feel. I've also used carrots, celery, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, even canned artichoke hearts--anything goes, really, just chop everything pretty small (about 1/2 inch dice) and mix with the lentils. Toss with diced or crumbled feta cheese, and then toss with the vinaigrette. It's good right away, but even better if you let it sit a bit for the flavors to blend.
Vinaigrette: 1/4 cup lemon juice 1/2 cup olive oil 1 clove garlic, minced 2 tsp dried oregano or 2 TBSP fresh chopped oregano salt and pepper to taste
When I want to shake things up at crockpot night I bring this and it always is a hit. Sometimes even the most committed carnivores want a few vitamins and some fiber!
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Post by mach12 on Mar 8, 2020 0:20:26 GMT -5
I've got to give this a try. I've sprouted a lot of stuff but never lentils so it looks like I'd better go to the store Monday and get some fresh ones. (A great thing about being retired is not having to fight the weekend crowds!).
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Post by nana on Mar 8, 2020 7:37:07 GMT -5
Once you try them sprouted you may never go back! I didn't read the original recipe for this very carefully and I made it the way I have said to here. Everyone loved it, even the picky 6 year old. Then around the third time I made it I realized the recipe called for the lentils to be sprouted, then dried, and then COOKED!! Yikes! I'm glad I skipped that beginning paragraph! I've also tried sprouting chickpeas, but with less success. Lentils seem to have a very high germination rate, practically every single one will sprout, even from an old bag that got pushed to the back of the cupboard, and the ones that don't still soften up enough that they just go in the salad and you don't notice them.
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Post by mach12 on Mar 10, 2020 0:06:46 GMT -5
Their recipe sounds like how I prepare the mash when I do whole grain brewing except instead of drying it I toast it and then let the grain sit from 6 days to 6 weeks to get rid of bitterness and sweeten. I might have to play with lentils just to see what I can do. Lentils are really inexpensive around here and anything unusable is compostable so no real big worries.
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Post by nana on Mar 10, 2020 17:07:20 GMT -5
Or just give it to the chickens!
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Post by mach12 on Mar 11, 2020 14:46:05 GMT -5
Or just give it to the chickens! That's the bad news. Our chickens were getting pretty old so I wasn't replacing them because I wanted to rebuild my chicken coop. We were down to a rooster and three hens and a ferret got in about 2 weeks ago and killed them all. I don't know whether I was more heartbroken or angry. One of my neighbors is a trapper for the State and has a whole truckload of humane traps that he carries in his pickup. Most of what they do is catch and relocate so I talked to him and he trapped it and took it in for tests so they can relocate it. It's healthy it'll end up in a State Forest somewhere. If not then they'll euthanize it. So, I guess I can do the chicken coop after I recover from my upcoming surgery, however long the recovery takes.
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Post by nana on Mar 11, 2020 16:58:34 GMT -5
Hey, good luck on your surgery. May your recovery be swift and most of all uneventful!
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Post by mach12 on Mar 11, 2020 21:40:38 GMT -5
Thanks Nana. A nurse from the surgeon's office called today to give me an update and so far everything's on track but this coronavirus thing is shutting a lot of stuff down. So far Swedish in Seattle is business as usual other than preventive steps and limits on visitors. According to her I need to plan on 6 weeks and they're talking 4 to six weeks of tests and stuff before the surgery, a week in the hospital, and a couple of months of physical therapy for my brain to adapt. And mine is just a small tumor under the brain, not actually in it. My hat's off to those people who have had regular brain tumors removed! Come to think of it I guess my hat will be off to everyone for a little bit lol. Dwayner is still planning on coming but we're changing the plan so that I'll be back on my feet when he gets here. I just need to be able to finish doing the videos on the 61C we've been restoring and recording the process. Me getting sick has already delayed that way too long but better late than never, right?
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Post by nana on Mar 12, 2020 17:28:54 GMT -5
Holy Smokes, that sounds like some serious surgery!! I mean it: speedy and uneventful!!!
This covid-19/ corona virus stuff has me spooked. One the one hand they say most people get only mild symptoms but on the other hand it seems every day more draconian measure are being taken...Cancelling March Madness NCAA basketball...that's literally millions of dollars lost just right there. They never did that for just the flu... It makes me think there's something they're not telling us, but I hate feeling like a conspiracy theorist.
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Post by mach12 on Mar 12, 2020 19:17:36 GMT -5
Yeah, I was surprised when I had my latest MRI and did the follow-up with my surgeon but it explains why my symptoms have gone where they have.
Things are really fluid right now with the virus and a lot is going on behind the scenes that the general public isn't aware of. I'm subject to recall to my old job and received my 36 hour standby but I updated them on my tumor so they have me tagged for the local operations center working logistics. Our son works for one of the county health departments here in WA and this is one of his areas of expertise so he's right in the middle of it. His office overlooks the Bremerton Navy Base and with him being a Navy veteran too he was assigned to work with the Federal task force as well. They really are making good headway but we're struggling to produce what we need in the way of test kits and they expect a vaccine to take awhile to produce once they come up with one but that's being worked as well and it looks promising. What they need to do is buy time and that's what all of the stuff is about with closing stuff. If they can slow down the spread it'll be well worth it. It's spreading like crazy here and with our trade and travel between here and Asia that's no surprise but it appears most of the increases were early exposures. Anyway, that's what it looks like at this point.
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Post by Chuckie on Mar 13, 2020 10:41:46 GMT -5
Holy Smokes, that sounds like some serious surgery!! I mean it: speedy and uneventful!!! This covid-19/ corona virus stuff has me spooked. One the one hand they say most people get only mild symptoms but on the other hand it seems every day more draconian measure are being taken...Cancelling March Madness NCAA basketball...that's literally millions of dollars lost just right there. They never did that for just the flu... It makes me think there's something they're not telling us, but I hate feeling like a conspiracy theorist. They even canceled our 37th Annual Saint Patrick's Day Parade here in Leavenworth!!!!! When I got done w/the City Manager on the telephone, he had NO DOUBT as to how I felt. I also "blew" BADLY my Lenten resolution to quit swearing while on the phone w/him...
And by order of the archbishop, no Holy Water in the fonts @ church, no greeters, no handshake of Peace, no Precious Blood @ Communion, and no Holy Eucharist on the tongue. I am NOT a happy camper... Chuckie
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Post by nana on Mar 13, 2020 17:26:56 GMT -5
I know what you mean, Chuckie. So many things are being cancelled here, not just large gatherings. The school where I worked just cancelled next week's Open House where parents get to come to school and the kids get to show off all their work and special projects. They've been decorating the rooms and halls for weeks, and now no one gets to see it. And the spring concert, too...In the big picture these type of things are not so important maybe, and if we stop a potentially deadly epidemic in its tracks it'll be worth it, but it still hurts.
What's scary is apparently children can be carriers. They can test positive for the virus and show little or no symptoms. So they could be spreading it and no one even knows it. Kids have constant sniffles and coughs, and are not (ahem) too conscientious about that handwashing. Better to try and nip it in the bud then allow it to go unchecked.
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