Saturday, January 30, 2016

How to Cook Amaranth on the Stove Top





If you've been with me in the past you know of my absolute obsession with grains and getting to contribute here on Preparing Wisely's blog, I am going to be sharing a lot of those obsessions...as well as preparedness tips. The grain obsession started as a mild crush and now I'm totally addicted. Grain and seeds add such a remarkable depth to your meals. I'm a huge fan. So, it won't come as a surprise if I share some more basics here right? Meet Amaranth. My darling friend on the left. On the right we have brown teff.
If you've never had Amaranth, it's an amazing super-grain and one of my favorites. Now I call it a grain, but technically it's a seed. Not all seeds are grain. Only seeds that are members of the grass family can technically own the name of grain. It's a very fun and technical thing. The good news on amaranth is that it's gluten free, high in protein and has all necessary amino acids to be considered a complete protein...30% more protein than rice, wheat or oats. In it's glory, it can grow a million-ka-billion seeds (give or take). I find it  absolutely delightful and mild in flavor. It's become one of my favorites for breakfast. 
I'll simply cook it on the stove top and when it's cooked, drizzle it with a smidge of honey or even better, fold in some yogurt and fruit to the cooked grain.

It's simple to cook on the stove top. You will need a quart size sauce pan with a tightly fitting lid. Bring 3 cups water to a boil. I add a pinch of salt to the water. Add 1 cup of amaranth to the pot. Reduce heat to very low. Cover with a lid and allow the amarnath to simmer 25 minutes. The seeds are still rather small when cooked, but they look so ding-a-dang crazy-cool.
I love a little drizzle of honey. My personal favorite is a maple hazelnut honey.
Even though it looks like caviar, it doesn't taste like it. Hooray for that!

Here...now you can see it really close up.
My final note. My most recent love...freeze dried yogurt bites and freeze dried fruits folded into the cooked grain. Oh my stars. It's a creamy little nugget of joy in a sea of goodness. How's that for a cool new happy food?
There you go. Make some amaranth! 


  Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef