Wednesday 20 January 2016

Micro greens: sprouting from legumes and January eating

carrot couscous with sprouted beans

Our latest column in House and Garden magazine on how to sprout from beans and grains is here
My recipe (above) using sprouted beans is here.

What to eat in January. 

This is Veganuary. Every year, we are exhorted to go on a diet just after Christmas, to stop drinking for a month, to join a gym, and now to go vegan - that is, eat no animal products for the month of January.

Even as the author of V is for Vegan, I'm not a fan of self-denial or suffering. I'm a maximalist, my sort of vegan food means you can still enjoy yourself. It is not particularly low calorie or directed towards weight loss. January is the coldest month in the Northern hemisphere and should be filled with soups, stews and alpine foods. The odd warming mulled wine or ruby red glass of port does not go amiss either. We need the calories, the cheer, the solace of hearty grub while we await the thaw.

Those are the arguments against Veganuary. Arguments for thrive on the idea of New Year. A new start for a new you. 
I'm going to up the ante and present you with a recipe that is not only vegan but also raw. What is raw food? As a diet it is all foods that are not cooked, or foods that are heated to under 40 to 49ÂșC. Rawfoodarians believe that cooked food is 'dead' food. We can learn from every diet, no matter how faddish it may appear, and soaking grains and legumes so that they sprout is an intrinsic part of the raw food diet.