Lets talk sprouts. When I was younger, Mum used to try and sneak alfalfa sprouts into my sandwiches which I hated – I used to think it tasted like eating hair in a sandwich. And then there was the time that she once ruined my favourite stir fry by adding in bean shoots.
These days, I try to include as much nutritionally rich, fresh, plant-based produce in my daily diet, and bean shoots are not only highly nutritious but can also be incredibly affordable if sprouted yourself at home (for more info about how to sprout and nutritional benefits, check out this page which has a ton of information).
I have been playing around with sprouting various legumes and seeds myself lately, with varying levels of success. Anything that works goes straight into salads, stir fries, sandwiches, or even thrown into my green smoothies.
After a very successful attempt at sprouting mung beans returned quite a lot of sprouts, I thought I’d play around with turning them into a dip. I mixed them with sunflower seeds to bulk it up a bit and round out the flavour. Although we loved it, I appreciate this dip isn’t for everyone – however I urge you to give it a go at least once, especially if you sprout your own beans and need ideas on what to do with them. The fresh flavours make it a great light dip perfect for a snack, or you can thin it out with some water and extra oil to use it to dress a salad. Try it out, and let me know what you think.
Sprouted mung bean dip
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, soaked
2 cups mung bean sprouts, loosely packed
Juice of half a lemon
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
1 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 Tbsp water
Salt and pepper, to taste
Add the sunflower seeds to a container or bowl with one cup of water and leave to soak at least 2 hours.
Add soaked seeds and remaining ingredients to a food processor, and mix until a paste has formed – at least one minute.
Enjoy as a dip (note – this dip goes well on top of my Swedish crackers) or thin more to use as a salad dressing.
Store in the refrigerator and use within 2 – 3 days
Mung beans sound very delicious. (all though you compared them with hair ;) ). I HAVE to try this!
And what stunning photos! SO pretty.
Haha! Not the best comparison I’ll admit, but that was when I was a kid, these days sprouts taste much less hair-like to me ;) Thanks for your lovely words! x
Hair in a sandwich oh my – you girl crack me up!! I do love sprouts, but my family can’t stand them, so I don’t get to eat them as often as I’d like :–( This dip looks wonderful to me! And so nutritious! xx
Thanks Consuelo! x
Your photos in this post are so beautiful! And this sounds like the nicest dip ever. I can’t wait to try the recipe!
Thanks Lilli :)
I had about two cups of leftover hulls and white beans that had shed their hulls but did not produce a sprout. Like you, I couldn’t just throw them out so I added a garlic clove, salt, pepper and some leftover vinegar marinade. I liquified it all in the blender then slowly added a stream of olive oil. My first thought was that it would make a good green salad dressing then I dipped in a couple of Doritos and that was good. I had just heated up some veggie enchiladas so I dabbed on some of the sprout dip [like you would sour cream] and enjoyed a flavorful feast. I did all of this before I found your recipe and was delighted to see that you had experimented already.