Sprouted Buckwheat Salad With Basil Pesto

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

  • 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). 
sprouted buckwheat pesto salad

 

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. 
sprouted buckwheat

 

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
sprouted buckwheat pesto salad

 

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 InstagramFacebook, Twitter, Pinterest & YouTube and also use the hashtag #lbhealthandlifestyle.

 

other summer recipes

 

OTHER RECIPES

5 from 14 reviews

Sprouted Buckwheat Salad With Basil Pesto

August 6, 2021
: 2-4
: 15 min
:
: 15 min
: Easy

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.

By:

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

 

 



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