The Lustful Vegan

It’s a wet, grey day outside, and rather cool and dark inside. It might seem bleak if it weren’t harvest day. Yep, today my wee little sprouts became food, and their crisp greenness offered a nice reminder that spring’s lying just beneath that melting snow out there.

The mung beans went into cilantro tabbouleh. Even though I’ve been nibbling those for days and throwing some in everything I’ve cooked, I still had a good two loose cups for the salad. Not bad considering I started with just two tablespoons of seed! They turned out a little bitter, apparently because I didn’t hide them away in the dark while they were sprouting. That’s okay, though — I still found them tasty, and the flavour went well with the salad, so it all worked out well.

The broccoli sprouts I used as a garnish. They’re light and fluffy compared to the mung sprouts, and taste like, well, little fiery broccoli bursts. Go figure. I didn’t touch them until today, and what you see in the photos is the entire ‘crop’ — a single spoonful! From an entire seed pack! (I’m not sure how much the packet contained, but definitely less than 2 T.) Must see if I can find a bulk source of seed so that I can sprout more, because otherwise I just won’t be able to grow enough.

Cilantro tabbouleh

• 1/2 cup bulgur
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/4+ cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 T oil
• 1 T nutritional yeast
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 or 2 campari tomatoes, chopped small (or use one bigger one)
• 2 cups sprouts
• salt & pepper (to taste)

How to:

1. Boil your water, then pour over the bulgur. Add lemon juice, cover, and let sit for 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Mix in everything except the sprouts and stir well. Refrigerate overnight.
3. If your sprouts are really long, chop or break them up a bit. Stir into the tabbouleh.
4. Taste and adjust seasonings with more lemon juice, salt, pepper, etc.

I think this would work particularly well with large, barely-sprouted mungs.