Many edible plants make excellent microgreens. That even includes plants not generally known for edible greens, like carrots.
One plant that does not make a good microgreen is lettuce. Lettuce seeds are just too delicate. Their large, deep-green leaves can identify alfalfa microgreens. These microgreens offer a mild flavor. They are excellent for added nutrition and crunch to a sandwich or salad. Detroit Dark Red Beet microgreens are another excellent option. They have a subtle earthy flavor. When harvesting these microgreens, make sure to cut very close to the soil line.
This way some of that beautiful red stem is saved. Create a beautiful and tasty treat by adding them to hummus toast. Another microgreen worth a try is buckwheat. Buckwheat microgreens have a tangy flavor and they are pale green in color. Buckwheat is an excellent gluten-free option. Eat them by the handful as a delicious snack all on their own. Buckwheat microgreens are known for their anti-inflammatory properties.
Clover microgreens feature green leaves, and they have a mild fresh flavor. The younger the clover microgreen is, the sweeter it will be. Sprinkle them on a salad for a flavor-packed crunch.
Clover microgreens are also loaded with zinc, magnesium, calcium and iron. Collards microgreens have the same delicious flavor as adult collards, but they have a whole lot more intensity. They are dark green in color. And they give a tasty kick to salads or can be used as a garnish.
Martha Stewart offers an incredible recipe for spaghetti with collard greens and lemon. The collards microgreens make it even better! Kale is another microgreen that is great. They are green in color and have a flavor that resembles that of romaine and red leaf lettuces. This makes them ideal for a microgreens salad. Also use them in smoothies. Chard and kale are also high in an antioxidant that protects skin and eyes called lutein. Another very popular microgreen that should be considered is kohlrabi.
This microgreen features a white stem and green leaves. Their flavor is mild and cabbage-like. And they taste great when added to slaw, salads or sandwiches.
Pea microgreens are another excellent option. They offer several times more vitamin C than blueberries and a lot more folic acid than even bean sprouts. Pea shoot microgreens make a delicious addition to a strawberry salad or they can be mixed with pickled onion and radishes.
For a pleasant peppery taste, try radish microgreens. They contain healthy amounts of B6 and folate. To really give the taste buds a treat, try adding them to a salad with watermelon and avocado. Sunflower shoots are known for their essential amino acid properties.
They offer a delightful crunch and they are loaded with selenium, folate, B complex, and vitamins E and C. Add them to a salad or sandwich. They taste fabulous when paired with a creamy vinaigrette.
Select a page. Posted by Mike Lazet. Tags: difference between microgreens and sprouts , microgreens , sprouts , what is a microgreen. Related Articles. Leave a reply Click here to cancel the reply Your email address will not be published. Stay in Touch. Submit your name and email below to get offers, updates and news from The Herbman. They also need some light and regular watering to ensure they grow. The shoots will be much thicker than sprouts as they have more time to grow and more nutrition; thanks to the complex root system they can form in the growing media.
The main difference between a sprout and microgreens is the growing method. In short, sprouts germinate in water and then you rinse them 2 or 3 times a day until the plant starts to emerge. Microgreens can be germinated in water but they must be transferred to the growing medium. You then nurture them by keeping the soil moist for weeks; until the first leaves are fully developed.
You then eat the leaf and the stem; but not the seed. The seeds used for sprouts and microgreens are the same. The difference is simply in how they are grown and when they are considered ready to eat. It is generally agreed that microgreens are the most nutritious stage of any plant. They can be times more nutritious than the mature plant and times more nutritious than a sprout. There is actually very little difference between microgreens and shoots.
Shoots are harvested before the leaves appear which means they are quicker to grow. They still need the same growing medium and care as microgreens and you still eat the shoot, not the seed. In fact, these terms can almost be used interchangeably as they overlap each other. You can easily have the first leaves appearing on your shoots when you harvest them.
Instead, it uses the nutrients stored inside the endosperm to grow. Water is then the only requirement needed. And therefore, hydroponic media is preferred. In contrast, microgreens require extra nutrients from the soil to grow better. The soil method is then preferred, such as in potting mix blended with coconut coir or peat moss see the comparison of soil vs growing mats. While you can still grow them using the hydroponic way, such as using a growing mat, however, you should then be providing a nutrition solution.
Below are some Broccoli sprouts that have grown for five days within a Mason jar, with the growing medium being water. You can see the final product of the sprouting seed on the picture to the right. Alternatives to growing sprouts in jars include a sprouting tray which again uses water as the growing medium. In contrast, here is a photo of broccoli microgreens being grown in soil within a growing tray. As you can see, the growing medium is very different.
The sprouting stage is harvested before the true leaves are formed. For microgreens, you can usually see the expanding true leaf, though seed leaves tiny leaf may have a distinguishable shape and size.
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