Amaranth – yes you may ask what that is….Up until yesterday I had no idea.  This whole interesting saga started when over a cup of coffee with the sourdough queen about garam masala.  We started looking for the different ingredients that made up garam masala, this led to a discussion about barberries which in turn led to Amaranth and the story goes on……the end result is I purchased some Amaranth and decided to create something with it.

Amaranth is a seed referred to as a pseudo grain. Apparently it is easily digested – gluten-free. Careful not to over cook it because it can become a sticky mess.  Inspired by a Moroccan recipe that I had posted earlier – I created a Amaranth & Chickpea Salad, as well as Amaranth breakfast alternative.  In the coming months I will make a dessert using Amaranth so watch this space carefully  🙂

Amaranth – The Breakfast Alternative

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Amaranth
• 1/4 cup silvered Almonds
• 1 tbsp dried cranberries
• 1 tbsp raisins
• 2 Dried Figs
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp Pomegranate Molasses
• 2 pinches nutmeg
• 1 pinch cinnamon
• 1 tbsp butter

Method

Cook Amaranth as per instructions on packet. Melt butter in a pan on low heat, add almonds and brown slightly.  Add honey, pomegranate molasses, chopped figs, cranberries, raisins, nutmeg, cinnamon. Take off heat and add to  Amaranth – give it a good mix and serve with yoghurt.  Note: For those that would like this sweeter, please add some brown sugar to the heated butter.

Amaranth & Chick Pea Salad

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Amaranth
• 2 pieces roasted peppers
• 6 Sun-dried Tomatoes
• Handful Coriander or Parsley
• 2 tbsp dried cranberries
• 11/2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp sumac
• 2 – 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp pomegranate molasses
• 1 can Chick peas
• Juice of half lemon
• 1 tsp salt

Method

Cook Amaranth as per instructions on packet. Julienne Roasted Peppers (i used peppers out of a jar from the supermarket), chop sun-dried tomatoes in bite size pieces. Rinse and drain chick peas. In a small jug, mix olive oil, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, sumac, cumin and dried cranberries and let it sit for 10 mins.  Add chick peas, finely chopped coriander or parsley, and olive oil mix to the amaranth.  Mix well – serve with spinach leaves and a dollop of yoghurt. Sprinkle some sumac over the yoghurt to make it look pretty.

Tip: This would also be great with a dollop mint yoghurt.