Pomegranate + Amaranth = Bountiful Breakfast

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!

Pomegranates tend to be expensive. You may be lucky and have a friend who has a tree or find a sale in the store. The fruit is worth the splurge from time-to-time as the antioxidant health benefits are tremendous.

Q: How does one remove the seeds from the pomegranate without getting red all over the place?

A: This recipe uses the antioxidant rich pomegranate as the fruit of choice. To remove the seeds from a pomegranate without getting the red color of the liquid to stain your hands and clothes, follow a few basic steps:

First, cut the pomegranate in half from top to bottom. I suggest you put a kitchen towel over the fruit and knife so any liquid sprays into the towel.

Second, put the sliced fruit into a bowl of water. Use your fingers to remove seeds from membrane while submerged into the water. The seeds will sink and the membrane will float.

Third, remove the membrane from the water and drain the water. This will leave the pomegranate seeds to be used in your recipe.

Base Ingredients and Variations:

 

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

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

1 1 cup seasonal fruit (or diced dried fruit)

     (I used half pomegranate seeds and half banana slices)

11 1/2 cups nuts (I used slivered almonds for this recipe – look for a nut that goes with the fruit chosen)

1 1/2 tsp almond flavoring (substitute vanilla or maple – use a flavor profile that works well with the fruit you are using)

1 1 tbsp local raw honey (optional addition to top the cereal)

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.