Sprouted Lentil Patties or Lentil Cakes

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Lentil patty served on a bed of warm arugula with avocado

Lentils are one of those little legumes packed with energy and easily sprout bringing that energy to however you prepare them. The following is a recipe that I’ve been working on that incorporates so many tasty ingredients that it’s more of a cake than a patty.

When served on a bed of sautéed arugula, they provide complete amino acids, like meat, only not!

As with all my recipes, they include only organic ingredients and if at all possible, local ingredients. This recipe asks you to sprout your lentils. Sprouting has many benefits, it is the final phase of any seed releasing all it’s anti-nutrients (things that keep the nutrients from your body). It is the part that takes the most patience, but it’s worth it. The rest of the patty is easy to put together.

Time required is a few minutes 3-5 days in a row to sprout the lentils, and about 1/2 hour to make the patties and each one takes about 6-10 minutes to cook (3-5 minutes per side)

If you buy your lentils from a bulk bin, they may not all be from the same batch, and they will not all sprout at the same time

Ingredients ~ part 1 Sprouting the Lentils ~ the fun part!

• 1 C Lentils ~ choose lentils that are as fresh as you can get them. I used brown lentils, but any lentil will do. If these lentils are very old, they may not sprout. This can be worked around.

• 6-8 C Soaking Water ~ I use room temperature spring water, because that is the best, filtered water will do, tap water is the least favorite

• 2 T Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)

• pinch of baking soda

• non fiberous tea towel

Directions ~ Part 1

1. Place the cup of lentil in a biggish bowl (as they will expand) along with half the water the pinch of baking soda and one tablespoon of ACV. Cover with a dish or the tea towel in a warm corner of the house for 12-24 hours.

2. Rinse under tap water, gently rubbing the lentils and you will see the skins pop off of them. These can be rinsed off. Feel free to use your tap water to rinse them and run off the shells

3. Repeat with the remaining water and ACV for another 12-24 hours or until you see the lentils start to sprout.

4. Once they start to sprout, they can be rinsed off and wrapped in a tea towel and then back in the bowl. The tea towel should be damp. Fold the towel over the lentils simulating an underground sprouting environment. You can gently roll them around in the tea towel every few house so they are evenly exposed to the top area. Once they sprout about a 1/4-1/2 inch, they are done. Which Should take another day or two. If there are some that have not sprouted, do not worry, just keep them all together.

Ingredients ~ part 2

Soaking lentils about to sprout

Lentils beginning to sprout after the first soak, shells have been removed

shells that came off the lentils

Chopped and minced ingredients

meatball mixture ready for making patty's

Cooking patty

browning 3-5 minutes each side on medium heat

Stack of cooked patty's

keep them warm in a tortilla warmer

serving with a scoop of good fat like avocado

• 1-2 shredded carrots (optional)

• 1 T Celtic sea salt (best salt around for lowering blood pressure and enhancing flavor)

• 1-2 Shallots (substitute with your favorite onion, but shallots have the most nutrition)

• 1/4 C or so of piñoles (pine nuts) or any of your favorite in-season nuts or seeds. I find sunflower seeds also work well and are less likely to burn

• 1/4 C currents (again, optional, but it’s a nice sweet surprise and is just another nutrient packed addition)

• 1/2 C chopped cilantro or parsley

• 3-4 squashed and then minced cloves garlic (always smash your garlic at least 10 minutes before you add them so they make their anti-bacterial medicines for you)

• Pepper and/or Cumin to taste

• Herbs chopped from the garden ~ sage is a great one! (you decide the amount)

• 1-2 T Tamari sauce (to your taste) Note that Tamari is gluten free, and this is a gluten free recipe

• 1 T Olive oil

• 1/4 to 1/2 C chick pea flour to help solidify the patty’s

Directions ~ part 2

1. Set up a steamer on your stove and steam the lentils for 5 minutes

2. Heat up your cast iron skillet, medium heat, but needs to be hot enough when you add the patties. You do not need to add oil as there is olive oil in the patty’s.

3. Smash the garlic, then mince it

4. Chop, mince, etc all the other ingredients except the pinholes and currents

5. Add everything to a bowl and mix except the flour. Mix all the ingredients together and start adding the flour until the mixture is meatball consistency and you can form little patty’s. I usually like the patties to be rather thin and about 3-4” in diameter. You can decide on your own.

6. Brown the patty’s on either side for 3-5 minutes.

Serve plain or with a saturated fat like avocado, cheese or mayo, with or without a bun. I like to add avocado or one of the wonderful nut cheeses.

Enjoy!