Amaranth and oat porridge
This is my blog and I am putting the recipe first! Ha!
1/4 cup amaranth grain, soaked in water overnight and drained
1/4 cup oats
3/4 cup milk
Dried cranberries (approx 1-2 Tbsp)
Salt, cinnamon, and butter to taste
Honey, brown sugar, or maple syrup to taste
Combine the amaranth grain, salt, and milk in a microwavable bowl with some extra room at the top for when it starts boiling. Microwave on high for two and a half minutes. Continue to microwave in 15-second increments, stirring in between, until the grain becomes translucent, perhaps 1-1.5 minutes total. Watch carefully that it doesn’t boil over. Then add oats. Continue to cook and stir in 15-second increments for another 1-1.5 minutes total until the oats seem cooked. Add cinnamon and stir. Then stir in the cranberries. If desired, put butter on top and let it melt as the porridge cools. Add sweetener and enjoy!
Notes
It is important to soak the grain first. I add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water to 1/4 cup amaranth grain, shake it up to break the surface tension, and leave it in the refrigerator overnight. It is fine to leave it longer. The first time I tried making the porridge, I only soaked the grain for about an hour and it made me nauseous after eating it. And if I don’t shake it up so that all the seeds get wet while soaking, I get the occasional unpleasant crunch against my teeth from an uncooked grain. So, it is important to soak the grain thoroughly so that it cooks fully. The seed coat is hydrophobic so it may look dry after soaking it, but rest assured that water has gotten inside the seed.
You may have to go to a health food store, as opposed to an ordinary grocery store, to find amaranth grain for sale. I got mine in the bulk section at Earth Fare in Ocala.
And now my life story
I became interested in amaranth for its health benefits and climate resilience after researching it for my post on Gomphrena. Since I became vegetarian this year, the fact that it has complete protein makes it especially appealing. And there’s certainly some magic in it given its ancient cultural importance in Central America, and the fact that many varieties survived eradication during the genocide against Mayan people in the Guatemalan Civil War because indigenous women kept stashes of grain hidden away. (FYI the US had installed a military dictatorship there in order to prevent communism and keep the cheap coffee and bananas coming. You can read about it on Wikipedia.) It’s a reminder that small acts of bravery and rebellion can change the world, even in the face of horrible and powerful adversity.
It’s odd that this dream has stuck with me, but sometime over a decade ago I dreamed that I got to try the “cereal of the future”. It was a hot cereal that had texture and crunch to it, like cream of wheat but mixed with impossibly crunchy Golden Grahams. I was obsessed with how good it tasted. Well now, all these years later, I have a crunchy hot cereal in the form of amaranth porridge. I’ll have to try it with wheat instead of oats to see if I can get it even closer to my “dream cereal”. And “of the future”? Yup. If climate change brings drought, and if plant-based diets continue to increase in popularity, we may all find ourselves eating more amaranth.