.jpg) The 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.
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Yes. You read that correctly. Couscous… and cake. Together. Although this isn’t what I had for breakfast today, it’s just too good not to share as part of breakfast week! The thing that makes it special is that is isn’t baked. Not that I don’t love me something baked and delicious, I do, it’s just that baked goods can be really hard on you. Baking is drying for your body. Just think of the high heat of the oven creating the crusty crusts of bread/cakes/etc. The liquid is cooked and dried out of the food… let alone the fact that even a good sourdough is still made of refined flour! If I eat too many baked goods I really notice that I start to feel tight and grumpy. Confession time! The most “dangerous” breakfast for me (well… actually, for hubs)- especially if I haven’t been eating well- is toast and coffee. Seriously- poor hubs!! It’s such an indicator for me- if I become a crazy beeee-atch after toast and coffee I really know it’s time to clean things up. Hurrah for the 100 day project… and couscous cake!! ps. it makes a really nice afternoon tea treat, or dessert!
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Breakfast this morning: amaranth porridge, water sauteed napa cabbage, green tea. Tip! If you’re new to greens, napa cabbage is a great place to begin. It has a high water content and its flavour is nice, light and refreshing. It’s also easy to chew! Napa is one of my favourite greens to have in the morning.
 Okay… French toast is maybe a stretch, but polenta cakes didn’t really to fit either! Whatever you decide to call ’em, these are delicious. Even the cat wanted in and I can’t really blame him. Here’s what you do:
Lightly coat the leftover polenta squares with flour. I used unbleached all-purpose, but you could use any other kind. Even cornmeal/corn flour would work.
Brush your cast-iron pan with a little oil of your choice. I used a tiny bit of coconut this morning and it was delicious. Heat it over medium – medium high heat.
When hot, place the polenta cakes in the pan. After a few minutes, or when starting to turn a bit golden, flip and repeat on the other side.
Serve hot (they taste good cold too) with an apple juice sweetened jam of your choice, apple butter, or maple or brown rice syrup. You could easily do these as a savoury version for brunch or for a fast weeknight dinner. Simply top the cakes with some stir fried veggies of your choice.
Along with these bad boys, breakfast this morning included blanched collard greens (yay greens!!) and a cup of green tea. So fast and easy.
Okay Friends! Here we go. You got your shopping list last week- did you buy anything new and exciting? For week one we’re going to be focusing on breakfasts. In (and out of!) my classes, it’s the number one thing I get asked about. So, I figured we’d just delve right in with the first meal of the day!
Energy in the morning is rising. Just think of the sun coming up and you can feel what I mean by that. You want to eat something to help you feel in tune with this. In addition to this rising energy, you’ve been fasting all night while sleeping. It’s nice to wake up your digestive system, to break your fast, with something gentle and warm. Miso soup, porridges, steamed, blanched or water sauteed greens, warm tea- combined, these make a great breakfast. I don’t have miso soup every morning, but I do try to have greens. Greens for breakfast??? When you think about that rising morning energy, and then about plants- growing upwards, stretching towards the sun, it just makes sense.
Occasionally I might have my greens in a juice in the morning, but most often they are lightly cooked. In northern climates, and ESPECIALLY in the middle of this freezing cold polar vortex* kind of winter we’re having, it’s important to have cooked foods to keep our bodies warm and our energy (chi) strong and vital. If you feel cold all the time, examine what you’re eating and if you find you’re having lots of tropical (cooling) fruits, or eating lots of salads, smoothies or juices, try eating your greens and vegetables cooked for a few weeks and see how you feel.
Breakfast this morning: Polenta Porridge topped with toasted pumpkin seeds and leftover lemon pudding (yummy!), green tea. Yup. After all my talk of greens in the morning, no greens today. We tried to buy some yesterday but there were no organic greens to be found and even the conventional ones looked pretty cruddy. Sooo…. Hubs is getting some from Whole Foods today. Hooray!!! Greens tomorrow morning for sure!!
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For hubs and I, I made one cup of polenta, cooked in 4 cups of lightly salted water**. I added an additional scant half cup of water towards the end of cooking to get my ideal porridge texture. 1 cup of dried polenta makes more than enough for 2 bowls of porridge. Pour the remaining polenta into a baking sheet and let set in a thin layer (approx 1/2 inch or 1- 2 cm thick), either on the counter or in the fridge, for the day. When it’s firm, cut the polenta into 2 – 3 inch squares/rectangles and store in a glass tupperware. I’ll show you tomorrow how to make it into a quick and yummy breakfast.
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* polar vortex is SO. MUCH. FUN. to say!! Especially if you say it in an action movie preview type of voice- you know the one. Low, growly, full of testosterone, slightly angry… Now say it with that voice- Polar Vortex– haha!! So fun!!
** I use Bob’s Red Mill Organic Polenta and for where I live the 4 (ish) cups of water makes a texture of porridge I like. Your water amount may vary depending on the type of polenta you use and how dry/humid your climate is etc. You can start with 3 and add more as you go if you like.
I’m a dreamer and I dream big dreams. This post, for instance, I intended to present in a very different format. Almost 2 weeks later and it is still having issues publishing cleanly. And while I try to be kind to myself while learning new technologies, it’s hard not to get frustrated. In any case, this morning while staring at 15 pages that were ready to go (just not in the format I wanted) I had a little moment. I could re-do them all in a new program, which would likely take much more time than I can realistically spend right now, or, I could publish them on the site as is and start work on the next few recipe posts and Issue Two of the Macro Project! Yes, I’m a perfectionist but sometimes you just have to go with the flow.
A few months back when the weather was dreary, dark and threatening snow, I was preparing beans for dinner and- in a matter of mere minutes– they went from just about done to a layer of burnt black charcoal that took me days to fully scrape off the bottom of the pot. It was the weirdest thing. Seriously- in under 10 minutes, dinner tragedy. Yet somehow I managed to maintain my cool and instead of flipping out over pot of burnt beans and a ruined dinner, I picked up the phone and ordered Chinese food from the end of our street. Crisis averted. So simple. Hubs and I walked over, picked up dinner, ran back home, opened a beer, put our feet up, indulged in yummy food and had a lovely evening. We went with the flow and it was so easy.
My Sifu wrote to me once, “When a boat is launched into the water it is difficult for the boat if it stays along the side of the stream as this is where the roots and rubbish collect. Tree branches might overhang or there might be other boats to navigate around. If one steers the boat into the center of the stream and goes with the current one finds it easier. The odd obstacle might show itself but because of attention it is easily steered around. This is chi flow. We keep our focus and when something pops up, we are able to handle it with ease. We can see the big picture and we don’t get caught in the details.”
So. I’m keeping my boat in the middle of the river, and posting the macro shopping list as a regular ‘ol blog post. I’ll keep working towards putting it in a fun and tidy new format, and when that happens I’ll be sure to let you all know. So!! Here’s your macro shopping list! In it you’ll find a list of all of the foods commonly used in the macro diet, along with (very brief!!) explanations at the beginning of each category. Be sure to write if you have any questions or comments. Friends, let’s get this 100 day macro party started!
UPDATE! For a downloadable/printable version please click here or on the link to the right!
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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
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!
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.
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.