Sprouted buckwheat salad. Sprouting buckwheat before eating makes it easier to digest and maximises the nutrient content and the vitamins and minerals our bodies absorb. Sprouted buckwheat groats are combined with in season vegetables and a creamy basil pesto sauce for a healthy quick & easy rainbow salad bowl recipe, made in just 15 minutes. Perfect for lunch or dinner, as a side dish or for picnics and BBQ’s. A gluten free dairy free salad that is also nut free, soy free, oil free & vegan.
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easy buckwheat rainbow salad recipe
Salads are an easy, light, refreshing meal that can be enjoyed all year round. They’re especially great to keep us cool during the summer. Raw vegetables have a high water content and are packed full of vitamins, minerals and electrolytes which help us stay hydrated.
This sprouted buckwheat salad is packed full of in season mediterranean vegetables from the rainbow. Eating in season foods means we eat them at the same time of year they’re able to be grown locally.
The benefits of eating seasonally are (1):-
- It provides us with the specific nutrients we need at specific times of year,
- Foods are fresher,
- Higher in nutrients,
- Have a stronger flavour,
- Lower in toxins as fewer pesticides are needed to grow them,
- Better for the environment due to less transportation and storage costs.
This Eat The Seasons post has a full list of when individual fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices are in season for each month of the year.
Ingredients in this rainbow salad recipe
- Sprouted buckwheat. You can buy buckwheat already sprouted like Lil Bucks, Planet Organic or Sun & Seed. However, you can also easily sprout it at home following the instructions in this How To Sprout Buckwheat post.
- Mediterranean vegetable mix:-
- Carrots
- Beetroot
- Fennel
- Celery
- Spring onions/scallions
- Arugula/rocket
- Basil courgette pesto, made with courgette/zucchini, sprouted flaxseed (UK Link/US Link), avocado, fresh basil, lemon juice and garlic.
- Sauerkraut (UK Link/US Link). Fermented foods like sauerkraut contains live probiotics, which increase the good bacteria in the gut, boost our immune system and improve digestion (2).
- Atlantic dulse flakes (UK Link/US Link). One of the richest sources of iodine, an essential mineral for thyroid health (3).
- Broccoli sprouts (UK Link/US Link). Broccoli has the highest levels of sulforaphane, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic and anti-oxidant compound (4). Broccoli sprouts contain 10-100 times more nutrients than regular broccoli (5).
What is sprouted buckwheat
Sprouting is an ancient practice that goes back to biblical times, where grains like buckwheat, as well as beans, legumes, nuts and seeds were soaked in water to activate them and then sprouted before being consumed.
buckwheat sprouts benefits
Grains like buckwheat contain anti nutrients which damage the gut and bind to nutrients from our food preventing our bodies from absorbing them (6). Over time this can potentially lead to deficiencies (6).
Activating and then sprouting buckwheat has many benefits (7):-
- Reduces anti-nutrients
- Increases digestive enzymes, improving digestion
- Maximises the protein, fibre, vitamin and mineral content
- Increases the absorption of these nutrients
How to get activated and sprouted buckwheat
Option 1). Store bought
You can buy buckwheat already activated and sprouted like Lil Bucks, Planet Organic or Sun & Seed.
Option 2). Activate and Sprout buckwheat at home
Alternatively activating buckwheat and then sprouting it is easy to do at home in 5 steps following the instructions in this How To Sprout Buckwheat post, with:-
Ensure you buy non roasted raw organic buckwheat groats, as non organic contains chemical pesticides and cooking and roasting buckwheat destroys its live enzymes, which prevent the grains from being able to sprout.
how to activate buckwheat
- Soak buckwheat in 250ml/1 cup of filtered water with 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice. The buckwheat smoking time is 4 hours. After 4 hours, drain the water and you will have activated buckwheat, or activated buckinis as they’re also known.
how to sprout buckwheat in a jar
- After draining the activated buckwheat groats, rinse and drain once more and then leave in a sprouting jar covered with a tea towel.
- Rinse and drain 2-3 times per day.
- Sprouted buckwheat is ready in 1.5-2 days, when you see a white root appear from the top.
- After a final rinse and drain leave the sprouted buckwheat to dry completely and either eat straight away or store in the fridge in a glass container for up to 2 days.
equipment needed for this zucchini pesto salad
Dietary requirements
This sprouted buckwheat salad is:-
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Wheat free
- Soy free
- Lactose free
- Egg free
- Nut free
- Oil free
- Refined sugar free
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
TAG ME IN YOUR sprouted buckwheat salad CREATIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
I really hope you enjoy this mediterranean buckwheat salad. If you make the recipe I’d love to see your creations. Tag me on social media – I’m on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest & YouTube and also use the hashtag #lbhealthandlifestyle.
other summer recipes
OTHER RECIPES
Sprouted Buckwheat Salad With Basil Pesto
Sprouted buckwheat is easier to digest and higher in nutrients. It's combined with in season mediterranean vegetables from the rainbow and basil pesto to produce this salad, a healthy, quick & easy light & refreshing meal, made in just 15 minutes. Gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, oil-free, vegan.
Ingredients
- Salad ingredients:-
- 1 medium beetroot, peeled & chopped
- 2 medium carrots, grated
- 1 medium fennel head, stems removed & chopped
- 100 grams/3.5 ounces spring onions/scallions, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 70 grams/2.5 ounces sprouted buckwheat
- 60 grams/2 ounces sauerkraut
- 40 grams/2 cups rocket/arugula
- 2 tsp atlantic dulse flakes
- 30 grams/1 ounce broccoli sprouts (to top)
- Pesto ingredients:-
- 200 grams/7 ounces grated courgette/zucchini with water squeezed out
- 30 grams/1 ounce sprouted flaxseed
- Half a medium avocado
- 40 grams/2 cups fresh basil
- 2 garlic cloves
- Juice from one lemon
Directions
- Step 1 To make the pesto, place the grated courgette/zucchini, sprouted flaxseed, avocado, basil, garlic & lemon juice in a food processor and blend on high until a smooth mixture is formed.
- Step 2 Add the chopped & grated vegetables, rocket/arugula, sprouted buckwheat, sauerkraut and atlantic dulse flakes to a serving bowl. Add the pesto from the food processor and stir until fully combined.
- Step 3 Top with broccoli sprouts and serve straight away.
- Step 4 Above links are for US readers. UK links – sprouted buckwheat, sauerkraut, sprouted flaxseed, atlantic dulse flakes, broccoli sprouts, food processor, serving bowl.
I had no idea about broccoli sprouts containing so much greater quantities of nutrients compared to regular broccoli. Wow. And I’d never even heard of Atlantic dulse flakes before! Great recipe, and a fab range of ingredients to make for a healthy but flavoursome salad. Nom nom!
Caz xx
Thank you so much Caz, I really appreciate that. I know, it’s amazing the foods out there that we don’t know about! Broccoli sprouts and atlantic dulse flakes are a regular part of my diet now since discovering them xx
Wow, what a jam packed salad full of nutrition! I absolutely love broccoli sprouts and atlantic dulse, especially for all of the health benefits they provide. I often have them in my smoothies so this salad will be a nice change. Excited to give it a try!
Thank you so much Anaiah! I love broccoli sprouts and atlantic dulse too. I’ve never had them in smoothies, I’ll have to try that. I really hope you enjoy the salad!
This recipe was delicious! I loved it. We love sprouting . All the flavors and ingredients play really well together. I find all the information regarding sprouting very helpful. Thank you!
Thank you so much Tavo, I really appreciate your feedback. I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed it! You’re welcome, I’m so glad it was helpful.
This sprouted buckwheat pesto salad is absolutely delicious! Love all those healthy, plant-based ingredients in it. I didn’t know the exact, step-by-step process of how to sprout buckwheats. So helpful! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much Marinela, I’m so pleased you enjoyed it! You’re welcome, I’m glad it was helpful for you. Thank you again!
Wow this sounds amazing! I have never had buckwheat before but this was so tasty and delicious!
Thank you so much for your feedback Kayla, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This salad looks so delicious! I have not tried sprouted buckwheat before, but this makes me want to try it! Thank you for this healthy salad recipe!
Thank you so much Nandini! I love it, sprouting it has made such a big improvement to my digestion. You’re welcome, I really hope you enjoy it!
Wow ! this is a jam-packed nutritious treat. I like buckwheat but I’ve never sprouted ti before. So, I’ve just set some up in a large jar so that I can tr this salad in the next few days. Can’t wait. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much Julia, I really appreciate your comment. I really hope you enjoy it, I love sprouted buckwheat so I hope you do too.
This salad looks amazing. I love how healthy and nutritious it is. I’m making this for lunch tomorrow. Yum! Can’t wait.
Thank you so much Natalie, that means a lot. I really hope you enjoy it! Please let me know what you think 🙂
I love your instructions for sprouting buckwheat, it’s so easy! Thank you for sharing this delicious and healthy recipe!
You’re welcome Emily. Thank you so much, I really appreciate your kinds words.
I haven’t sprouted anything in way too long and never buckwheat. Your salad looks and sounds delicious, so I’m keen to try sprouting buckwheat now.
Thank you so much, I appreciate that. I really hope you enjoy it if you try it.
Love this buckwheat salad! It is so healthy and delicious! I love it feels so light!
Thank you so much Kayla, I’m so glad you love it!
I don’t always eat the cleanest but this salad is such a great way for me to supplement and add some better nutrition into my diet. Thank you for this recipe!
You’re welcome Joshua, thank you for your comment! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the salad!
I love everything about this salad! I’m vegan and gluten free so I like my food to be high in nutrients. I look forward to trying this salad.
Thanks so much Cindy! I really hope you enjoy it!
Lucy, love it, thanks for sharing your post at SeniorSalon
You’re welcome, thank you Esme.
I love everything about this salad! The combination of flavors is really amazing!
Thank you so much Toni, I’m so glad you love this salad!
I made it last night for our supper and it was delicious! My partner who is not a salad person loved it too and we will be adding this to our meal plan for sure!
Thanks so much for letting me know Anna. I’m so pleased you and your partner enjoyed it.