Fresh food becomes a bit harder to find during the winter months. Local greenhouses and cold-hardy vegetables help ease our winter cravings for fresh produce, but they can’t do it alone.

Seeking out small farmers who are growing produce through the winter is worth the effort since fresh vegetables offer so much more nutritional value and flavor than weeks-old produce. But there’s one more solution we can turn to year-round: sprouts.

Growing sprouts is easy, affordable and can be done in nearly any household. Sprouts are seeds that have just put out their first legs of growth—baby plants. They’re packed with nutrients and enzymes and add freshness to wintertime eating.

Sprouts also have a robust flavor for their size and age. Radish sprouts have a spicy kick like radishes do, while wheat sprouts have a sweet, malty taste. Alfalfa, broccoli, fenugreek and mustard are also common sprouting greens. You can also try a mix of sprouting seeds for a combination of colors, textures and hints of flavor.

Sprouts taste great in sandwiches and atop winter comfort dishes like lasagna, roasts, rice and soup.

How to grow sprouts at home

You can grow your own sprouts for fresh eating with just a few minutes a day, a quart-sized jar with a metal ring and some sort of mesh material, such as a muslin cloth, plastic needlepoint mesh or metal screen, cut to the size of the opening of your jar.

You can also purchase a plastic sprouting lid for a few dollars at the grocery store. Both the screen and lid serve the same function, allowing you to keep the seeds moistened and refreshed with clean water as they sprout.

Purchase sprouting seeds and you’re ready to go! Find seeds specifically marked for sprouting at the grocery store or in seed catalogs.

Step 1: Soak seeds overnight

Add about three tablespoons of sprouting seeds to your quart jar. Cover the opening of the jar with the mesh screen and secure it in place with a canning ring.

Pour non-chlorinated water through the screen to wet the seeds. Swirl the seeds around in the water, drain and add water again. Place the jar on your counter and let the sprouting seeds soak overnight.

Step 2: Drain and rinse

In the morning, keeping the meshed lid on the jar, pour out the water. Rinse, swirl and drain—repeat this process two or three times. After the jar is fully drained, lay it upside down in a shallow bowl and let the jar sit this way.

Do this a few times throughout the day. This keeps the seeds moist enough to start sprouting and clean enough so that you’ll want to eat them once they’re fully sprouted. Each day, the sprouts will grow and your jar will begin to fill with young, green sprouts.

Step 3: Transfer and enjoy

After three to five days, depending on how big and green you want your sprouts to be, you can move them from the jar to the refrigerator. Be sure they’re fully drained before moving them. I like to fold them up in a cloth napkin and store them in the produce drawer. This way, the sprouts can breathe and stay fresh longer without turning slimy and brown.

Enjoy bringing some fresh eating into your day-to-day life even during these cold winter months.