Aashu’s mother is concerned about the health of her children due to the low availability of nutritious foods.
Other than Aashu, she has 2 more children. She is a housewife and the health of her children and whole family is a serious concern for her. They lacked immunity against regular diseases such as common cold & fevers while serious diseases such as malaria & dengue can lead them to hospitalisation.
She opted for vitamin supplements & other medications but nothing worked. Finally, she got advice from a colleague to include microgreens in the diet of her family which are known for their nutritional value, easy digestion & improving immunity powers.
Now, she is less worried about her family’s health & chances of seasonal ailment are low. Also, with the help of a colleague, she started microgreens farming in the house’s backyard.
So, this article is about Microgreens & we will discuss what they are, their benefits & uses, who can eat & who can’t, how you can grow them at home & lastly, we will discuss some recipes for microgreens.
What are Microgreens?
You can understand Microgreens as young vegetables that reach the size of approx. 1-3 inches.
You can find them in different varieties of colours & textures but all of them have aromatic flavours & high concentration of nutrients.
Mostly, people confuse them with sprouts (mung) but there is quite a difference between them as sprouts take only 2-7 days to harvest while microgreens take up to 7-21 days for the same process. You can find many similarities between baby greens & microgreens as in both cases only their leaves & stems are edible.
The big advantage of microgreens is that they are convenient to grow in any location including outdoors, in greenhouses & windowsills.
“Microgreens deliver big flavor and provide more concentrated nutrients than their full-grown counterparts,”
– Dietitian Kayla Kopp, RD, LD
Microgreens Benefits for Health
There is a long list of health benefits that are associated with the consumption of microgreens. You can tackle or prevent the occurrence of any chronic disease by adding microgreens to your diet:
Heart Diseases
Stroke is one of the major health concerns for many Indians, thanks to the wrongful diet containing bad cholesterol LDL. Microgreens contain polyphenols, an antioxidant that can lower the level of bad cholesterol & reduce the risk of heart disease.
Alzheimer’s
Other than heart disease, polyphenols can also be linked to mental health which lowers the risk of Alzheimer’s among older people.
Diabetes
High sugar levels in the blood can put you at risk of type-2 diabetes. Insulin resistivity is one such reason for diabetes, microgreens contain antioxidants that reduce Insulin resistivity & sugar levels in the blood.
Cancers
Polyphenols can also be linked to the prevention of certain types of cancer & microgreens are a good source of them.
You must note that all these claims related to microgreens are based on general observations. Also, you can have high nutritional intake by adding microgreens to your meals.
Who can or who can’t eat Microgreens?
There is no such health problem that you can face after consuming microgreens.
Then also there are some people who consider that microgreens have the same health risks as sprouts but that is untrue.
Due to the humid & cold environment needed for sprouts, bacteria like E.coli can easily find growth in Sprouts. But microgreens are harvested in dry & warm conditions. Due to this, only their stems & leaves are considered eatable which significantly reduces the growth of bacteria & lowers the risk of food poisoning.
To protect your home-grown microgreens from any pathogen, use the best sanitary & single-use mats such as peat & perlite. With it, only prefer microgreens seeds of a reputed company as they have in-build resistivity towards bacteria & fungi.
There are no age-related restrictions for anyone to consume microgreens. From an infant to an older person, microgreen crops have more health benefits than any health problem.
How Microgreens Helped in Boosting Immunity During the COVID-19 Pandemic?
In the early stage of the disease, when there was no vaccine for it. Doctors from every corridor suggested strengthening the ability of your immune system to tackle this virus if you get infected.
Microgreens contain more than 40 different nutrients that are associated with boosting immunity. Out of them are red Amaranth, Radish, Alfalfa, Sunflower, Wheatgrass, Beetroot & Mustard.
But we will also advise you to add other ways of boosting immunity such as pranayama (yoga) & adding cardio exercises to your daily routine.
How to do Microgreens Farming at Home
As we have mentioned earlier, microgreens are vegetables that can also be grown at home by using simple farming tools. Back garden & terrace narrow beds can be used to harvest these crops. You can grow them year-round, even on indoor & outdoor premises of your house.
To grow microgreens at your home you need the following:
Microgreens Seeds
Prefer seeds from a reputed company so that you can have a much healthier crop.
Soil
You can use ordinary soil in your garden but remember that it shouldn’t contain any pesticide or chemical fertilizers to get the organic harvest.
Lighting
Try to provide at least 12-16 hours of sunlight to the crop or you can use ultraviolet lighting.
Steps of Harvesting Microgreens
- Start filling a container with soil, you just need a soil filling of just 3-4 inches, don’t over-compress the soil as it can hurt the germination of the seed.
- Once you do with the soil filling, go for spreading the seeds throughout the soil, just hand sprinkling is fine.
- Now just sprinkle water on the soil lightly & then cover the whole pot/container with a plastic lid.
- Do check the container daily & sprinkle the water daily to maintain the sufficiency of water in the crop.
- Once you see some germination of seed after 1-2 weeks, you can remove the plastic lid to allow easy reach of light.
- After 7-10 days, you will find 2-3 inches of growth of plants, your crop is ready to be harvested & for consumption.
- Once you collect them, clean them thoroughly in cold water & wrap them in
- paper foil for further use as well as store them in the refrigerator.
Business Model of Microgreens Farming
Most people don’t bother about why they should go for a home-based growing of microgreens when they can get them from a nearby store.
But there are many benefits of home-grown microgreens which include surety of quality & its organic stature. Other than that, you can also mass grow the microgreens more than your own need & sell it to the prominent restaurants.
Although most restaurants prefer to have bulk purchases, some of them still consider buying from home-grown microgreens as it ensures them their quality & nutritious value.
Microgreens like cabbage, radish, carrot, cucumber, squash & amaranth are some of the highly demanding crops that are mostly purchased by restaurants for preparing salads & toppings for various dishes.
You can earn a good secondary income by selling them to restaurants or at least cover up the expenses that you have incurred in producing the crops.
Some Easy Recipes of Microgreens
Microgreens are a great taste booster, they come in many different flavours & you can bunch them in your diet in many different ways.
You can prepare flavourful salads, smoothies & juices at home from them. Just sprinkle fresh microgreens on pasta, pizzas, omelettes, soup & curries to make them tastier.
Following are some of such dishes that you can prepare at home:
Recipe 1: Radish & Sprout Salad
You can enjoy a healthy & nutritious salad prepared by mixing sprouts & microgreens, you just need:
Ingredients:
4 sliced radish
2 peeled & sliced carrots
1 cup black beans
1.5 cup of sprouts
1.5 cups of microgreens (sunflower, cucumber, Amaranth & any other varieties)
1 tbsp mint leaves
Dressings:
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1.5 tbsp cumin seeds
Fresh ground pepper
Garlic & olive oil
Method:
Put vegetables, sprouts, mint leaves & beans in a large bowl.
Now mix roasted cumin seeds in the mixture & stir it for the next 1-2 minutes, then empty the mixture in small bowls & add garlic, vinegar & olive oil on top. End the process by adding salt & ground pepper.
Toss the salad & serve.
Recipe 2: Pea Pesto
Pea pesto can be a more nutritious alternative to your regular green chutney. To prepare it you need:
Ingredients:
1 cup peas
1 peeled clove garlic
2 cup pea shoots
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ cup virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
Method:
Put peas, pea shoots, garlic, lemon juice, salt & pepper in the food processor. Then beat the mixture until you get a coarsely chopped paste.
Now put the virgin olive oil in it & blend until you don’t get a finely chopped & smooth pesto.
Now you can serve the pea presto immediately or store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The freshness can be maintained for at least 1 week.
Recipe 3: Microgreen Methi Dal
Dals are considered staple foods in India, so you need to include a microgreens dal recipe in your diet. For preparing a fenugreek dal you need:
Ingredients:
½ cup toor dal, soaked for 10-15 minutes
1 cup fenugreek (microgreen)
1 chopped tomato
¼ tbsp turmeric powder
½ tbsp cumin seeds
2-3 green chilies
2 cups of water
Virgin olive oil
Red chillies
salt
Method:
Put fenugreek microgreens, tomatoes, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, green chillies & water in the pressure cooker to cook for at least 5 whistles. Then smash the dal until it turns smooth without any lumps.
Take virgin olive oil in a pan & heat it enough that when you put mustard seeds, it starts crackling. Now low the steam & add cumin, garlic & onion in the oil. Also, add a pinch of salt as per the taste.
Now when the onion turns soft & translucent, add turmeric & red chillies.
Drop the mixture off the pan into the smashed dal & add water to dilute the paste. Stir it for 1-2 minutes. Once you notice the boiling, remove it from the heat.
Now your dal is ready to be served.
Conclusion
After 1 year of adding microgreens to her family diet, Aashu’s mother is now relieved from the health problems of her family. Along with that, she has also opened a new source of income for her family by selling home-grown microgreens to nearby restaurants & cafes.
The new era of health consciousness has already arrived in India. People from the ultra-rich to the middle class are moving towards organic & vegan foods leaving behind high-calorie foods. Microgreens are considered a better option to adopt as they are nutritious & low in calories.
So, in the end, we can say that the new fitness & health trends are moving in favour of microgreens. They do not only boost your immunity against diseases but can also generate a new source of income for you.
