The foundation of living food is the seed. Seeds are filled with vital energy, the very core of life. Each seed holds minerals, vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and fats-everything a plant needs and everything we need.
Ann Wigmore
They may be tiny, but microgreens are nutritional superheroes of the plant world when it comes to packing a nutrient dense punch. They are edible young vegetables, herbs and grains that grow in soil and harvested between 1-3 inches tall-somewhere between a sprout and a baby green.
Microgreens are gaining a lot of attention these days, and for good reason. A study published in the August 2012 issue of the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry discovered that microgreens have considerably higher nutrient density than their adult counterpart.
Let’s take a look at broccoli microgreens. This microgreen has been well-studied because it contains high levels of the cancer fighting compound sulforaphane. Broccoli microgreens contain 10 to 50 times the sulforaphane than mature broccoli and that amount may even go as high as 100 times.
Microgreens in general contribute to an alkaline diet, contain fiber that carries waste and toxins out of the body and provide an array of vitamins and minerals in high amounts.
So where do you find them? Some grocery stores and health food stores sell them. But fresh is always best. That means grow them at home. It doesn’t cost much and you can have fresh salad greens all year round growing right on your windowsill. Harvest them just when you are about to eat them so they retain all their nutrients. Microgreens are delicate. So eat them raw in a salad,
sandwich or on top of a soup. Make pesto, dips and humus with them and add them to pasta salads, quinoa salads or rice salads.
Growing microgreens has helped me raise my awareness about the choices I make around food. It has given me a deeper connection to the plants I use to nourish my body in a way that has become a major part of my lifestyle.
