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Sunflower Sprout Salad

 
We were first introduced to sunflower sprouts when we were out to dinner at a local farm to table restaurant here in Pittsburgh called ‘Legume’. We always had a quick giggle when passing Legume on our way to Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. “Ha ha Legume, I guess we will never eat there!” Little did we know, this tiny restaurant was the most accommodating to our way of eating than any other restaurant we have EVER been to!

We had heard wonderful things about Legume, and despite our hesitation with restaurants in general, we were really anxious to give it a shot. We decided to treat ourselves to a night out for our anniversary, and thought this was the perfect opportunity to take a shot with Legume. Bill called to make the reservations, and was sure to let the staff know that we were “grain free”. We kept our fingers crossed until the daily menu was posted at 5 pm that night that they would have something on the menu for us that evening.

When we got to the restaurant, we made sure to tell the server that we did not consume any grains, very minimal dairy, and definitely no sugar. He had us make a list of all the foods we did not eat, so that he could take it back to the chef. He promptly returned back to our table to let us know what the chef said was “safe” for us to have on the menu. I went with a grilled skirt steak, and Bill had a big grilled lamb steak (with marrow – bonus) and caramelized parsnips. We both started out with a simple salad with a homemade dressing of olive oil and herbs.

When our meals arrived the server presented my dish, stated that the chef had whipped up some chive butter especially for me, and added some sunflower sprouts to my dish for some extra greens. My mouth almost hit the floor. For those of you who have never been to Pittsburgh, this is a rare experience to have in a city that is known for throwing french fries on salads and sandwiches (sad but true).

We couldn’t have asked for a better restaurant experience, and our server made sure to tell us that now that they were all aware of the Paleo diet, to let all of our friends know that Legume would love to accommodate Paleo eaters. Along with the wonderful experience we had, I was also deliciously surprised by the sunflower sprouts that were added to my dish. These delicious greens are what inspired the salad we are presenting today, and they even inspired us to grow our own sunflower sprouts.

For this recipe, we purchased the sunflower sprouts at a local health food store while we were waiting for our little sprouts to grow. This was a simple salad with fresh flavors, perfect for summer. Sun sprouts are a great side dish on their own with just some fresh lemon juice, but they are even more delicious thrown into a fresh salad.

 

Sunflower Sprout Salad

Ingredients:

    • 2 cups spring mix salad greens
    • 1 cup sunflower sprouts
    • 2 large carrots, grated
    • 2 green onions, chopped
    • 2 hearts of palm, chopped
    • 1 lemon
    • 1 tbsp olive oil

 

Process:

  1. Trim sunflower sprouts from tap root, about one half inch from soil line.
  2. Rinse spouts under cool water, and allow to dry on a dish cloth.
  3. Rinse and peel carrots, and grate using a cheese grater. Set aside.
  4. Rinse green onion under cool water, pat dry, and chop into bite size pieces.
  5. Chop hearts of palm into bite size pieces.
  6. Toss all ingredients together, drizzle with freshly squeezed lemon and olive oil.
 
 
As always, enjoy!
 
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    COMMENTS

    1. May 31, 2011

      I have never heard of sunflower sprouts before! Similar to other types of sprouts? Where can you buy them?

    2. June 1, 2011

      I will need to bring out my bean sprouter for this recipe. Light and healthy.

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