raw vegan meal plan (Day 4) and raw curried lentil sprout and carrot salad

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Curried lentil sprout salad with carrot, corriander and sundried olives.

Have I spoken yet about the amazing wonder that is sprouting? I've wanted to try sprouting for a couple of years now, but have always put it off because I figured that it would be hard. Even though everyone says it'll be super easy, it still seemed kind of difficult. And they sell sprouting helpers for like hundreds of dollars, so why would I be able to do it on my own for free? Well, I finally did try it. And wow, it actually is super easy! And AWESOME!

I used an old spaghetti sauce jar and a piece of mesh - the kind that is used for screen windows (I have a whole roll - live in toronto? I'll hook you up!). I just put some sprouting seeds in the jar, let them soak for a couple of hours, then drained them and left them on an angle in my dish drying rack. Morning and night, pour water into the jar, through the screen, swirl it around, drain again. This site has everything you need to know about sprouting soak times and other details. This site also has some good information. I've sprouted lentils, daikon radish sprouts and buckwheat. I tried quinoa; it did not work at all.

Some things I've learned about sprouting:

1. don't put too much in the jar. When the sprouts grow, they'll take up a LOT of space. Like for the daikon radish seeds, I put in 2 tbsp and that filled the entire jar! Lentils I keep it to 1/3c, anymore and it's too much!
2. you're going to get freaked out by everyone online talking about mold; relax. If it looks like little white hairs or fuzz, those are root hairs, not mold. If it's mold, you will know. And if you rinse well and keep your jars on an angle, draining out, you'll be fine.
3. Dry your sprouts well before storing them. I didn't with the buckwheat and that's how they molded. Anything sitting in water will spoil quickly. I spread my sprouts out on a dish towel over a dehydrator tray (so it's not right on my table) and let them dry out a bit for an hour or 2. They won't be completely dry, but close to it.
4. try a sprout rotation. This way you'll never be without sprouts. So if you start your one jar on day 1, start the next jar on day 3 so that while you're finishing off the first jar, the second jar is just becoming ready to eat.

Sprouts are a great addition to salads, wraps, and spreads. They add a tasty and nutritional boost. Great for the raw foodie who likes to travel, they're quite portable. When I went to montreal for easter with my family, I brought a container of curried lentil sprouts and added them to salads and other dishes so that I could rock the raw without any hassle. And, best of all, they're super cheap! Seriously! Like 3 cups of lentil sprouts, from the 1/3 c of lentils costs cents!

Here's another daily meal plan, and the recipe for this delicious curried lentil sprout and carrot salad (the raw version of this salad). Don't forget to check out the other meal plans too: day 1, day 2, day 3.

• breakfast: vanilla banana hemp ice cream. This is a great breakfast. It's quick to make - just throw it in the blender, it's delicious, and because of the hemp it's super filling.
• snack: mango, mango, man-go! Or whatever fruit is in season. Or, if you find that mid-morning you want something "salty" go for some spicy sweet potato chips or nuts tossed in a bit of olive oil, curry powder, a pinch of sea salt and cayenne pepper - warning: your hands will get messy!
• lunch: lasagna in the buff. Or, if you felt lazy about assembling the lasagnas, toss the sauce, cheese and wilted spinach with zucchini linguini when you're ready to eat. zucchini has a lot of water, and when this dish sits for a while, the water comes out. This doesn't necessarily make it less enjoyable, but if it's something you'd rather avoid, keep the ingredients separate until you're about to eat.
• snack: chocolate mousse with chocolate crumbs. I keep the base and the mousse separate and then whenever I want to enjoy some chocolate-y awesomeness, I put some mousse in a bowl and sprinkle it heavily with the nut-chocolate base mix.
• dinner: curried lentil sprout and carrot salad (recipe below)

Curried lentil sprout and carrot salad

Ingredients (note: I totally didn't measure while making this. Sorry. So if you're making it and you're all I don't want that many carrots! Just put in fewer!)
2 cups lentil sprouts

2 cups carrots, grated (using the grating disc of a food processor)
1/2 c corriander, chopped
lemon juice
olive oil
cumin
tumeric
cayenne pepper

To make

1. Toss the lentil sprouts with the cumin, tumeric, cayenne pepper and a dash of olive oil and lemon juice until well coated. You don't need much of the oil or lemon juice, just enough to help coat the sprouts with the seasonings.
2. Put the lentil sprouts in a large bowl with the grated carrots and corriander.
3. Toss everything with lemon juice and a touch of olive oil to taste.
4. For a super spectacular treat, add in chopped sundried olives.

Enjoy your delicious day!
xoxo
Selene