Radish, Cress, Rucola, Endive and Fenugreek are strong in taste. This makes them delicious as a decoration rather than the main ingredient in a dish.

Alfalfa, Peas sprouts, Sunflower, Clover, Lentils and Mung beans, on the other hand, are mild in taste. This makes them delicious in smoothies, juices or as a base in salads. Neutral sprouts are also delicious to soften the flavor in otherwise strong salads or dips.

If you find the taste of your otherwise mild sprouts somewhat pungent, it may be because the small plants have not received enough light. Try making the sprout container brighter after the sprouts have unfolded their leaves. Then the taste becomes more round and soft.

Since sprouts cannot tolerate hot sun, you can instead place your sprouting tray under an LED growth bulb for up to 16 hours per day. For the last 8 hours, the plants must rest in order to grow properly.

Microgreens are just as delicious in your green dishes as sprouts.

Microgreens differ from sprouts in that microgreens are the next stage of the plants after sprouts. You grow Microgreen grows in 10-14. You only grow sprouts for 2-6 days. The extra cultivation time means that Microgreen must have fertilizer in order to grow after day 7, when Sprouts develop solely from the nutrition in the seed.

Whether you prefer one or the other size of plants is a matter of taste. Sprouts are elegant miniature plants that are very rich in flavor. The larger Microgreen plants, on the other hand, are really delicious as a base in a salad, smoothie or sandwich instead of store-bought salad.

You can see under SPROUT and MICROGREEN which varieties are suitable for each of the two categories.

There is an optimal length and harvest time for all Sprouts. The time depend on the development of the plant.

Sprouts of Lentils, Chickpeas and Beans must have 1/2 – 2 cm long root, before you should eat them raw. This is because legumes contain lectins that are neutralized as they grow. They grow to this stage in 2-4 days.

Leafy sprouts – Radish, Sunflower, Endive, Clover, Kale etc. – should grow until they unfold their leaves and the leaves develop deep color. They grow to this stage in 6-7 days.

The last group is Pea, Fenugreek and Corn. You can eat these three with either 1 cm root or with leaves. They grow to this stage in 2-10 days.

Your sprouts are at their nutritional peak when they have reached the recommended length to be mature for harvest. You can read the recommended time on all seed bags from FRESH SPROUTS and in the previous section.

If you cultivate Sprouts for their nutritional value, I recommend that you harvest them just when they have matured. If you have cultivated too many to eat on that day, then the best way to keep them is to just let them continue to grow in their sprouter for a day or two more.

As all greens, the nourishment in the sprouts begins to oxygen as soon as you cut, mash or blend the plants. Therefore, if you do not eat the sprouts whole, you will get the most nutrients from the sprouts by eating the food shortly after preparing the dish.