Broccoli Sprouts Are Super Broccoli

Broccoli sprouts — are they a new vegetable you’ve never heard of? Not exactly.

Broccoli sprouts are nothing more than  three- to four-day-old broccoli plants.  They look like alfalfa sprouts yet they have a more biting flavor, much like a radish. The radish flavor, in fact, comes from a very powerful phytochemical that acts as an antioxidant and prevents disease. This is one young sprout you should learn to love.

Despite the fact that the USDA still insists that broccoli is more nutritious than the sprouts, some researchers estimate that broccoli sprouts provide 10 to 100 times the power of mature broccoli in neutralizing carcinogens. A sprinkling of broccoli sprouts in your salad or on your sandwich can do more than even a couple of spears of broccoli.

This is especially good news for  people–particularly children–who refuse to eat broccoli. It’s much easier stuffing these into a pita with other foods than getting a child to eat spears of stuff they loathe. (Though we do have some tricks for that, too.)

Developed by scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, special broccoli sprouts and sprout blends are now available in supermarkets around the country. For some really great recipes and more information on this topic, check out www.broccosprouts.com and learn where you can buy this nutrition-packed veggie.