Amaranth Porridge

amaranthporridgeThe first time I made amaranth porridge was a disaster. I don’t know what went wrong, but it hardly cooked at all and was a bitter, horrid mess. One bite and it went in the green bin and hubs and I likely busted a move to our closest coffee shop to get a latte and croissant.

Trust me, it’s not supposed to be that way, and when it cooks properly it is totally delicious. The trick, I think, is in how well you rinse it first. Amaranth is incredibly tiny and it can be difficult to rinse. Enter a fine, stainless steel, sieve. For the past couple of years I just strained the water from a bowl with the side of my hand, but SO MANY amaranth seeds went overboard this way! Tragedy! Then, this Christmas, I was gifted a set of AMAZING sieves and my amaranth porridge making life was changed forever. If you don’t have one, I’d invest asap. They are worth every penny.

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I like a ratio of 1 part amaranth to 3 parts water. 1 cup of dry amaranth makes a GIANT bowl of porridge for both hubs and I.

Measure out the amaranth and rinse it very well. Add it to the water in a pot and bring to a boil.

Add a pinch of salt and reduce the heat to medium. Let it cook  (lid off!) for about 30 minutes or until it is thick and bubbling. Watch the heat as it gets close to the end of cooking- you may need to reduce it to avoid burning amaranth to the bottom of your pot. 

We don’t have honey often, but it is really delicious in Amaranth, so if you eat it I’d try it out here. If you don’t,  brown rice syrup or maple syrup would be tasty choices for sweetener, although I do enjoy it plain too.

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Breakfast this morning: Brown rice porridge, steamed kale, toasted sunflower seeds, 1/2 sheet nori, green tea.

FYI. Amaranth is a seed, and not a grain. It is especially high in protein and also lysine.

The Dainty Pig - January 30, 2014 - 4:35 pm

Yum!!
I haven’t had amaranth in awhile, due to lack of a good sieve, but I think I had better take your advice and invest in one, because this looks delicious!

Just catching up on all my blog reading for the week — your breakfasts are awesome! Polenta in all its forms is one of my favourite foods. I’ve been eating it since I was little, and continue to have it often. So good! Great posts!

xoox Jess

Shauna - January 31, 2014 - 9:31 am

DO IT!!! I seriously can’t believe the difference a simple sieve has made in my life. My parents gave us a set of 3 stainless steel All Clad, and they are AMAZING.

Happy you are enjoying the posts! It’s been super fun to do. I have so many more breakfast things to share I might have to do a Breakfast Week 2 in the next 95 days!

Teresa@sweetveg - February 1, 2014 - 1:12 am

Yum. A favorite combination of mine is amaranth, teff and steel cut oats. Your amaranth post is making me want some right now. It’s so yummy it tastes like a creamy dessert pudding especially if I add a little apple butter. :)

Shauna - February 1, 2014 - 8:15 am

omg that sounds delicious! Combining grains is something I don’t do nearly often enough. Thanks for the reminder! That’s going to be a breakfast next week for sure.

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