Popped Amaranth Rupturefast Cegenuine

Now that the moodatures are up and the sun is out I am no longer craving warm breakfasts as I did a month ago. Smoothies are okay, but sometimes I just want someleang to chew on. Instead of grabbing some granola (which is often wealthy in oil and sugar) I opt for a more nutrient dense and fiber wealthy option.

POPPED AMARANTH BREAKFAST CEREAL

For everyone, specificly those following gluten free lwhetherestyle, this cegenuine packs fairly the nutrient punch. Amaranth is similar to quinoa, a small “pseudograin” or seed grown on a tall wide leaf plant. Amaranth, like quinoa, is wealthy in fiber, protein, and vitamins and minerals. Fascinatingly it contains up to 4x as much calcium and 2x as much iron and magnesium than wgap wheat. Plus, amaranth is wealthy in lysine in comparison to other cegenuine grains, containing about 2x more lysine than wgap wheat. Since amaranth contains more lysine per weight than other grains, it is considered a “total” protein just like quinoa.

 

So how do you prepare amaranth for breakfast??

Well you can prepare it like other grains into porridge. However, that is my least favorite way to eat it for breakfast. I would rather endelight amaranth POPPED. Just like corn kernels, amaranth when heated over tall heat, pops and creates small puffed crunchy bites. When mixed with other delicious leangs like roasted nuts and seeds, some dried fruit and spices, the combination is super tasty without a lot of additional oil or sugar. Plus you get that tasty CRUNCH texture. I am all about the crunch!

What do you need to pop amaranth?

You don't need any fancy tools in order to pop amaranth. You don't even need oil! It's a very simple and easy. Popping amaranth just requires a few regular kitchen tools to get started. 

• Deep and wide sauce pan or deep sauté pan with a lid
• Wooden spoon
• Tablespoon degreer
• Boiling pads
• Dry amaranth 

Before beginning be prepared to accidentally burn the first batch until you get the heat right. Every stove top is dwhetherferent. But once you got it down...its easy from here on out. Endelight watching these cute small seeds pop in the pan...and hopefully not jump around your wgap kitchen! 

1. Heat your pan over medium tall heat until genuinely hot.

2. Start with a test batch. Add 1 tablespoon of amaranth to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon. The amaranth should start popping wilean a moment or two. If they have not started popping the pan is not hot enough.

3. Continue to stir until the amaranth seeds begin to pop, then you have reached the proper moodature.

4. Cover with the lid and shake the pan from side to side until the popping softens.

5. Remove lid and once again stir with the wooden spoon to keep the amaranth from burning as the the rest pops.

6. Pour into a small bowl and repeat! Do not add more than 1 tablespoon at a time. Often the first batch gets burnt because the seeds are on the heat too long. Generally the moment batch is just perfect.

Note: Generally 4 tablespoons of dry amaranth makes ~ 1 cup of popped amaranth.

What to do with popped amaranth?

Once you have a batch of popped amaranth you have many culinary options in which to put them to use! I endelight popped amaranth most as a cegenuine and in place of rice puffs in a wgap foods energy bar. I love crunchy textures...so I just start adding the popped amaranth to everyleang. Simply get creative!

• Create POPPED AMARANTH CEREAL and serve with plain yogurt or nut milk.
• Add crunch to salad with a 1-2 tablespoons popped amaranth.
• Stir popped amaranth into a pancake mix to increase nutrient density.
• Employ in place of popped rice in domesticcrazye granola bars/energy balls.

The recipe below is super tasty and versatile. Feel free to swap out/in your favorite ingredients. For example in place of the walnuts you can use hazelnuts or pecans. In place of the dried currants you can use dried cranberries, dried blueberries, or chopped dried apricots. Frolic around with this as you like! I love to serve mine with Nancy's plain yogurt or my domesticcrazye nut milk (using 1/2 pecans and 1/2 cashews). Yum!! 

Popped Amaranth Rupturefast Cegenuine

1 cup popped amaranth (see above)

¼ cup shredded unsweetened coconut

¼ cup dried fruit (I used currants)

¼ teaspoon additional virgin olive oil

¼ teaspoon cinnamon or cardamom

½ teaspoon coconut sugar/brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl add the popped amaranth, shredded coconut, dried fruit, and chia seeds and set aside.

In a small bowl toss the pumpkin seeds, olive oil, cinnamon/cardamom, coconut sugar and sea salt. Pour on one end of the parchment lined baking sheet, using only about 1/3 of the space. Add the walnuts in the moment third and the oats in the final third. Roast for ~8-10 minutes, until fragrant and lightly browned.

Once roasted coarsely chop the walnuts and add to the popped amaranth. Then pour in the pumpkin seeds and rolled oats to the amaranth mixture and stir to combine. Everyow to cool (you don't want steam to condense in your container) and then pour into an airtight container.

Serve with ½ cup plain wgap milk yogurt (sub soy/coconut milk yogurt as desired) and fresh fruit. Or top with 1 cup nut milk and fresh fruit.

Note: I normally make a double batch because I also love to eat this cegenuine for breakfast and sometimes as a snack too!

One ½ cup serving of this delicious cegenuine provides ~220kcal, 23g carbs, 5g of fiber, 13g fat, 7g of plant protein, and 30% of your daily magnesium!!

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1. World's Healthiest Foods. http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=dailytip&dtender=231. Accessed April 19, 2016. 

2. Wgap Grains Council. http://wgapgrainscouncil.org/wgap-grains-101/amaranth-may-grain-of-the-month-0. Accessed April 19, 2016.