Amaranth
Amaranth is a highly nutritious small seed used as an alternative to grains for people with gluten intolerance and grain allergies as well as those who want to eat more healthy foods. It is one of the best kept secrets to hit the food industry in recent years---a powerful, organic, alternative grain superfood that delivers measurable health benefits. Amaranth has a slightly sweet, nutty (no nuts added) toasty flavor to a more robust, full-bodied whole grain characteristic, depending on the form it is in. It is not related in any way to gluten-bearing grains and, as a matter of fact, it is in a genetic classification all its own (Amaranthae.)
Amaranth is an ancient grain used by the pre Columbian Aztecs and also in India . It was used in several interesting ways. The Aztecs used it to make a beer, the leaves were boiled or fried, the seeds were popped like popcorn, and the flour was used in various ways, include brutal religious ceremonies.
For this reason, the early Christian missionaries declared that amaranth was evil and all amaranth that was found was destroyed. Fortunately, some remote villages in Peru and Mexico continued to cultivate it, or it would be extinct.
Amaranth flour can be used to make some different delicious and cookies. It requires the addition of other flours in order to use for making breads. It is high in iron, protein, and has three times the calcium of milk.
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