Sprouty McSprouterson….and why he and all his cousins had to be sacrificed for my falafel

One of the more bizarre facets of raw food preparation is sprouting seeds for use in dishes. It can be a pain in the neck for meal prep…if you want to eat sprouted something-or-other today, you better have started three days ago…and if you plan to make some kind of dehydrated bread or cracker, add at least a day onto your planning. But sprouting isn’t actually hard, although I have to admit that, as something who doesn’t really have a green thumb, it does seem like magic when I cause little dried seedy things to grow sprouts. And it is magic for your body …those little plant babies are nutritional powerhouses!

Sprouting works, you need not fear it, and it lets you make some pretty cool stuff. I sprouted chickpeas this week to make falafel…the chickpeas start out as hard little things that look like a small version of their bloated, canned selves. You can buy seeds for sprouting at the health food store, and specific instructions usually are listed on the package. For chickpeas, I soaked the cup or so of seeds in a LOT of filtered water overnight. They expand more than you think! Then I drained the water, and spread the little sprouts-to-be around and up the sides of a big shallow bowl, covered it loosely with paper towel, and rinsed and drained them two or three times a day for three days, until most of them had about a quarter to a half inch of sprouty growth. They are so cute, it makes me feel bad eating them. (If eggs are rape and meat is murder, what is eating sprouts?)

I stopped feeling guilty once I made this delish falafel.

In a food processor, combine:

2 cups sprouted chickpeas

½ cup onion

Juice from ½ a lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cayenne

1-2 tablespoons curry powder, to taste

Form into golf balls sized balls or flatten into patties, and eat as is or over a salad, or dehydrate overnight (or longer, if you prefer them very dry). An oven on the lowest setting & cracked open will dry out the outside if you don’t have a dehydrator but don’t want to eat them totally squishy. I made a falafel “pita” with a big old collard leaf, with cukes and tomatoes and a drizzle of tahini.

Raw appétit!