Quinoa and Amaranth (Quinoa)
I usually eat a bowl of oat meal for breakfast, but I wanted to incorporate some higher protein grains into my diet. So, I bought Quinoa a while back and D'Atragono and Guinevere ate the entire bag! Right off my counter top (they crapped raw quinoa for a week)
So i finally got around to buying more on Saturday. When I was shopping I also saw something called Amaranth (sp?) On the shelf. I'd never heard of it before but the package boasted that it has the HIGHEST protein of any grain.(7 grams per serving?) So i bought it. yesterday morning I cooked up little servings of quinoa, oatmeal and amaranth.
The amaranth was very bland, like oatmeal...I really like that. One could sweeten it, i think. Or spice it up for an evening food. The texture was kinda like farina, I think, or that moon sand if any of you have seen hat.
The quinoa had a bit of a "green" flavor to it. That is not a bad thing, but I think I would pass on it for breakfast and enjoy it with evening meals.
The oatmeal of course is really good, but I'm sure you all know that already. I like all sorts of things in mine...
I cant wait to try this recipe....http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=11904.0
so, who's tried these/ heard of these? What do you do with them?
I just made quinoa again tonight and I freaking love it!!!!! This stuff is AMAZING :w00t!:
I may just write an ode to quinoa :jamming:
Do it! I wrote an Ode to the Kidney Bean last year. :D
And yes, quinoa is amazing. I eat it almost everyday.
Omg! I am OUT of quinoa!! This is scary :help!:
Need to get myself to the bulk bins tomorrow and stock up!!! :D
I modified a garlicky amaranth grits recipe to be sweet and submitted it to vegweb a while ago: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=15242.0
Though I found that it's better with some nut butter stirred in.
I eat either quinoa or amaranth every breakfast and enjoy it muchly (I usually eat amaranth because it's a bit cheaper where I live). I find that both are entirely suitable as breakfast fodder, with the proper ingredients added.
I eat amaranth a number of ways. Usually, the individual bowl will consist of about a 1/3 cup cooked amaranth, a tsp sorghum syrup (try it if you haven't used it before, it's cheap and versatile), a tbsp peanut/coconut/canola oil (this helps a LOT with the flavor), a pinch cinnamon and/or freshly ground nutmeg, and a handful walnuts/pecans. With amaranth, about any fruit will work- in a pinch a great dollop applesauce is yummy, or a crumbled pinchful dried longans (these fruits you can find in packets at most Asian food stores, and I recommend them too, they're interesting and very, very sweet).
Quinoa is served the same way, but tastes best with fresh fruit microwaved with it- apple, pear, banana, that sort of thing. Pear with fresh ginger is lovely. I find that the flavor of the peanut oil combined with the rich sweetness of sorghum help balance out whatever these pseudo cereals may lack in their own flavor/s. I also like that most of the ingredients in my mix have some sort of health benefit.
The cookbook "Vive La Vegan!" has one breakfast recipe that combines millet with amaranth, and it's absolutely lovely- especially with some kind of whipping cream on top.
I wanted to comment. I have had a jar of amaranth grains for awhile, and finally got around to using them. I cooked them like oatmeal, as a cereal. After about 5 minutes, I couldn't swallow, got an intense burning feeling in my chest, couldn't swallow water, and felt like I could die quickly. I made myself throw up repeatedly, and in about 30 minutes, returned to normal. Looking this up online, it was an anaphalactyc reaction, which could have been deadly. It seems some people are highly allergic to amaranth. This was my first reaction of its' kind, and I threw out my jar of amaranth. Just wanted to alert people to check for reactivity by eating a bite, rather than a serving size, if this is your first experience with this grain.
I love quinoa with some cocoa powder and truvia (or vegan semisweet chocolate chips, such as Ghiradelli).
Im gluten free so at one point or another ive tried them lol. I love quinoa especially the red but its hard to find so i halve it with white, i have also have teff (still tryingt o decide if that agrees withm e or not), and ive had amaranth flour but not grain. One thing abotu amaranth is that it spoils rapidly and is best kept in fridge or freezer. When i got my flour i thought that bitter taste was normal turn out it was partially rancid when i got it so when i decide to try again i plan on getting the actual grain and keeping it frozen. Havent had a problem with quinoa or teff spoiling in flour form or whole grain. Another grain you might try if you want to add more variety is buckwheat, i love it in flour form and i plan on trying to grow some so i can try it whole (its expensive around here since we only have one health food store).
I find quinoa works well as an oatmeal replacement when I mix in blueberries and maple syrup. However, Amaranth for me remains a soup or mixed in with other grains meal. The tiny beads of it don't work to well for me on it's own. I like making tabbouleh where it's equal parts quinoa, amaranth, and bulgur wheat together. That turns out to be fantastic.
You what I recently discovered? I personally like amaranth enough on its own, but I find it a tad too sticky. Then I tried simply boiling buckwheat groats (much enjoyed by faw foodists, when puffed at least), but found them kind of odd-tasting.
Combining both cereals, half'n'half, makes for great texture, and good flavor. It's been a staple of mine for a while. Adding strawberry jam, a banana and canola oil makes it really yummy!
This Summer/Fall, I'm going to try and collect wild amaranth- when there are plenty of prickly seed heads around, loaded with black seeds. Easy enough to dry, but every time I try to release the seeds, my fingers get full of tiny, obnoxious slivers.
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