Mung beans and the miracle of life

My wonderful and wise friend Edith (pronounced ay-DEET) gave me a very heavy plastic bag full of dried mung beans and told me to sprout them.

That was four months ago.

The mung beans sat in the cupboard, spilling out everywhere and annoying me every time I reached in to find coconut milk or seltzer water.

I was intimidated by the thought of sprouting. I had memories of oozing, stinking, rotton mush from an attempt at sprouting several years ago.

But then my mom gave me The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America's Underground Food Movements by Sandor Ellix Katz. In a chapter called “Seed Saving as a Political Act," Katz writes about the miracle of seed germination and goes on to describe--in a one uncomplicated paragraph--how to sprout things.

And it IS a miracle.

I soaked them overnight on Thursday, rinsed them Friday morning, and by Friday evening I saw the first tiny sprouts emerging. Today I rinsed several times, and each time I go to look at the critters they've visibly grown.

Amazing.

The miracle of life--soon to be lunch.