HOW NOT TO POISON YOUR SPOUSE WITH SPROUTS

Thinning was always my least favorite but a completely necessary step in the growing process. You plant your seeds, care for them as they sprout and then unceremoniously rip out the extra sprouts so that one might live a better existing. It seemed like such a waste.

A few seasons back I had the pleasure of a great dinner with a friend who is vegan. As we dined on hummus with a collection of colorful sprouts on top, it struck me that I need not waste those plucked plants. In the days that followed it came time to thin the next crop and I did so with none of the guilt. This time I took those beautiful throw aways and piled them on top of a fresh salad that would become my husband's lunch at work that day. I photographed it. I packed it in a pretty little container that I had been saving for just such an occasion.

So proud was I that I decided to post my creation online, but I needed more information for my story. After brief internet search, I placed a phone call to my husband. It went something like this, "Honey, did you it the salad?" He replied that it was fantastic. I then blurted out, "I may have accidentally poisoned you. Are you feeling OK?" He assured me he was fine.

You see, not all sprouts are created equal. While various young salad greens and grasses are perfectly fine in your salad, there are plants who's stems and leaves are not meant to be consumed. This is the case with tomatoes which belong to a family of plants know as deadly nightshade. The namesake of the family was used to make poison going way back in history, while its cousins tomatoes, eggplant and some potatoes grace many a modern dish. It turns out that an alkaloid in tomatoes known as Tomatine can effect our central nervous and digestive systems. The seed and the sprout are known to contain a high concentration of this substance.

While the couple of sprouts that I threw atop his salad didn't harm my husband they could be damaging in great quantity or in a person who might be allergic. Hence forth I swear that I will do my due diligence when it comes to experimentally feeding my family.