Amaranth Hot Cereal with Seasonal Fruit

Hot cereal is a satisfying meal to start your day. Amaranth is a good choice to use for hot cereal as it is high in protein and will keep you satisfied for a while. Use it before a morning work-out or before heading off to school. The texture and consistency is a bit thicker than Cream-of-Wheat. Add the seasonal fresh fruit of your choice (or diced dried fruit) to the dish when serving and enjoy!

Base Ingredients and Variations:

·      3 cups of liquid (I use 1 part almond milk and 2 parts water)

·      1 cup amaranth grain (I use Bob’s Red Mill)

·      I cup chopped seasonal fruit (or diced dried fruit)

·      .5 cups nuts (I used slivered almonds for this recipe – look for a nut that goes with the fruit chosen)

·      1.5 tsp almond flavoring (substitute vanilla or maple – use a flavor profile that works well with the fruit you are using)

·      1 tbsp local raw honey

Instructions:

1.    Amaranth grains need to be cooked with a ratio of 3 cups of liquid to 1 cup of amaranth. I increased this recipe so that I would have left-overs and used 4.5 cups of liquid to 1.5 cups of amaranth grain. I started by boiling 3 cups of water in a pot then adding the amaranth. As the liquid absorbed into the grain I added 1.5 cups of almond milk .5 cups at a time and stirred to integrate the almond milk.

2.    When the liquid is almost absorbed, add the flavoring and stir.

3.    Let hot cereal rest for 5 minutes and serve or store in an airtight container for later.

Serve:

Top with fruit and nuts of your choice and 1 tbsp honey

You may add additional almond milk if you prefer a thinner texture.

Reheating:

Add 6 TBSP milk to your bowl and stir prior to reheating in the microwave for 1-1.5 minutes depending on your microwave