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I’ve had a bag of amaranth sitting in my kitchen cupboard for a while now, so I thought it was time to use it. Like quinoa, amaranth is a true superfood, but unlike quinoa, it hasn’t started to become mainstream – people generally haven’t heard of it and don’t know how to use it. Amaranth dates back about 8,000 years and was a staple part of the diet for the Aztecs in Mexico. Although it’s a grain, it’s a fantastic source of non-meat, complete protein (it is about 15% protein), along with complex carbs and fibre. Packed with nutrients, too, especially calcium and iron, as well as vitamins A, B6, C, folate and riboflavin, and phytochemicals that are great for boosting the immune system and reducing blood pressure and high cholesterol.
You can cook amaranth exactly like quinoa (simmer in boiling water or stock until tender and the water has been absorbed, or toast the grains and then simmer). And, just like quinoa, it’s incredibly easy to incorporate into your diet – use it instead of couscous or rice and add fruit, nuts, herbs or spices to flavour it. Here I’ve used it to make the stuffing for the aubergines – and I’ve made a dish with layers of flavours. You can take it back by leaving out the fruity bit (the sultanas) and/or the cheesy bit, leaving just the harissa, lemon and herbs, or you can add the whole caboodle. Either way, it’s delicious!
gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, seed-free
Serves 4 Preparation time 15 minutes Cooking time 50 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 aubergines, halved lengthways
- 2 tbsp harissa paste
- 300g/10½oz/1½ cups amaranth
- 100g/3½oz/heaped ¾ cup sultanas (optional)
- 600ml/21fl oz/scant 2½ cups gluten-free and dairy-free vegetable stock
- juice of 2 lemons
- 2 handfuls finely chopped mint leaves
- 2 large handfuls finely chopped coriander leaves
- 8 spring onions, white part finely sliced
- 200g/7oz dairy-free cheese, crumbled or grated (optional)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- salad, to serve
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Using a sharp knife, score the flesh of the aubergines with a diagonal crisscross pattern, making sure not to pierce the skin. Put the aubergine halves on baking trays and spread the harissa paste evenly over. Bake for 40 minutes until tender.
- Meanwhile, put the amaranth in a fine sieve and rinse well under cold running water. Transfer to a saucepan, add the sultanas, if using, and pour over the stock. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down, cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 15–20 minutes until the amaranth is tender and the water has been absorbed.
- Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add the lemon juice, herbs, spring onions, and add the dairy-free cheese, if using. Mix together thoroughly and season lightly with salt and pepper.
- When the aubergines have cooked, remove from the oven and carefully scoop most of the flesh out of the aubergines, leaving a layer of flesh next to the skins. Mash the flesh, then add to the amaranth mixture, and mix in thoroughly. Spoon the mixture into the aubergine cases and bake for a further 10 minutes. Serve hot with salad, if you like.
One of the brilliant things about this dish is that the beetroot is soft and sweet. I usually either roast or juice beetroots but when I roasted some the other day, they came out of the oven really dry and uninspiring. So this dish started because I wanted to poach the beetroots and get a lovely tender result. Fennel seemed a natural partner because, although it takes on the colour of the beetroot, it keeps its beautiful aniseed taste – so when you add the wonderfully rich soya cheese, this dish becomes a great collection of flavours, rather than just a mixture. The flavours soak into the quinoa, making this supergrain delicious and the puy lentils give it some bite.
gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, seed-free, citrus-free
Ingredients:
- 150g/5½oz/heaped 1 cup quinoa
- 200g/7oz/1 cup puy lentils
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut into quarters
- 3 beetroots, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 250ml/9fl oz/1 cup gluten- and dairy-free stock
- 2 tbsp chopped thyme leaves
- 100g/3½oz soya cheese, crumbled
- sea salt and black pepper (optional)
- Rinse the lentils thoroughly and put them in a large bowl. Cover with water and leave to soak overnight or for at least 12 hours, then drain, rinse well and drain again.
- Put the lentils in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, then turn the heat down to low and leave to simmer for 40 minutes until soft. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium-low heat. Add the fennel, cover the pan with a lid and cook, shaking occasionally, for about 5 minutes until the fennel is starting to brown. Add in the garlic and fry for about 30 seconds, then add the beetroot slices, making sure that everything sits on the base of the pan. Pour in the stock, add the thyme, and season lightly if you want. Turn the heat up and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and leave to simmer for about 40 minutes, until the beetroot is tender.
- Meanwhile, put the quinoa in a sieve and rinse well. Transfer to a saucepan and pour over 250ml/9fl oz/1 cup cold water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, then turn the heat down to low and leave to simmer for 15–20 minutes until the quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed. If there is any water left, drain the quinoa thoroughly. Transfer to the serving bowl and mix together with the puy lentils.
- Heap the cooked fennel and beetroot on top of the quinoa and puy lentil mixture, taking care not to break up the fennel when taking it out of the pan. Scatter the cheese on top and serve either hot or cold.
This year I went to Olympia, London, to take part in the judging for the Great Taste Awards. Organised by The Guild of Fine Food, these awards are now in their tenth year and the food industry seems to have truly embraced them. This year the Guild received a record number of entries this year – showing definitely that fine foods and drink are holding their own in the marketplace.
I had a great day judging (and chatting!) And tasted some truly great food. Throughout the day, we awarded 10 Gold One Stars and 3 Gold Two Stars. One of the products that received a Gold One Star was a gluten-free breakfast cereal, made with quinoa and buckwheat flakes. I realise now that this was the Perfekt Organic Quinoa Granola (although, of course, I didn’t know this at the time.) This really was very good – and nutritionally excellent. The sunflower seeds, pecans, almonds, brazil nuts and golden linseeds gave the muesli a delicious balance of tastes and textures, and the quinoa and buckwheat flakes were lovely. The quinoa, in particular, was very well produced – it had been toasted and remained crunchy even after it had been immersed in milk for a while.
During the day, a couple of Gold Three Stars were awarded. Unfortunately neither of them came by my table, so I didn’t taste them. But one was a Polenta Cake which apparently was utterly wonderful. Polenta is a great gluten-free ingredient for making cakes – giving them a slightly-crunchy texture and deliciously sweet taste. And the other product was a roasted nori seaweed. Huge congratulations to those producers.
Once again I was hugely impressed with the judges I met. Most of them are involved in producing, selling or marketing high-quality, often artisan, food, and they’re all utterly passionate about great food. Each entry is blind tasted and points are given or deducted in a thorough, comprehensive way. If a product is thought to be worth a gold, it goes to a total of 16 people, who must all agree with the award. This year, I got to taste a very wide range of foods, ranging from biscuits, breads and cakes; to ice creams, chocolates and truffles; and sauces, pickles and chutneys. Some weren’t good – but the majority were – and those that stood out and received awards were truly excellent.
Quinoa is a true wonderfood. This gluten-free grain contains all 8 essential amino acids and is rich in calcium, making it a great choice if you’re following a gluten-free and also dairy-free diet. But many people think quinoa is hard to cook. The good news is that it isn’t. You simply need to use the right ratio of quinoa to liquid and make sure you don’t overcook it. You want it tender but not mushy – so stop cooking while it’s still in a discernible shape and then it will be delicious.
It’s good to add lovely flavours to quinoa. I developed this recipe around ingredients I know Zoe (my little 2-year old girl) loves, so that she would eat the quinoa, too. I added toasted pine nuts, raisins and chickpeas, and mixed these into stock-flavoured quinoa. And it worked – she ate masses. So now I’m feeling pleased that I’ve got some great nutrition inside her today!
gluten-free, wheat-free, yeast-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soya-free, seed-free, citrus-free
Preparation time 5 minutes Cooking time 15–20 minutes Serves 2
- 150g/5½oz/¾ cup quinoa
- 250ml/9fl oz/1 cup stock made with gluten-, yeast- and dairy-free stock powder
- 50g/1¾oz/⅓ cup pine nuts
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 230g/8oz/1 cup drained, tinned chickpeas
- 50g/1¾oz/scant ½ cup raisins or sultanas
- 1 handful parsley leaves, chopped
- 2 tbsp chopped mint leaves
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Put the quinoa in a sieve and rinse well under cold running water. Transfer to a saucepan and pour over the stock. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to a low heat, cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 15–20 minutes until the quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed. If any water is left in the pan, drain the quinoa thoroughly through a sieve.
- Meanwhile, heat a large heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Add the pine nuts and dry-fry for 2–3 minutes, until just starting to turn golden. Remove from the pan and leave to one side.
- Pour the oil into the heavy-based saucepan and heat on a medium-low heat until hot. Add the onion and fry for 2–3 minutes, stirring frequently, until just starting to turn golden. Add the garlic and fry for a further 30 seconds, stirring all the time. Add the chickpeas and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- When the quinoa is cooked, transfer to the heavy-based saucepan and add the pine nuts, raisins or sultanas, parsley and mint. Season lightly and stir thoroughly until well mixed. Serve warm or cold.
Recently Zoe discovered the pine nuts in the kitchen cupboard. Much nibbling (and a little scattering) later, these are now her new favourites. So I made quinoa with them – and added passion fruit. It’s often hard to know what to do with quinoa but this is a great way to eat it. The crunchy, chewy textures of the passion fruit and the pine nuts combine brilliantly with the soft quinoa. What’s more, the tangy fruit tastes of the passion fruit, along with the earthy, nutty flavours of the pine nuts, blend with the flavours of the oil, balsamic vinegar and the herbs – and the quinoa literally soaks these flavours up. Delicious!
gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, seed-free, citrus-free
Ingredients:
- 300g/10½oz/scant 2 cups quinoa
- 70g/2½oz/scant ½ cup pine nuts
- 3 passion fruits, seeds scraped out
- 1 small handful mint leaves, chopped
- 1 handful parsley leaves, chopped
- 1 handful coriander leaves, chopped
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- sea salt (optional)
- Put the quinoa in a sieve and rinse well. Transfer to a saucepan and pour over 500ml/18fl oz/2 cups cold water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, then turn the heat down to low and leave to simmer for 15–20 minutes until the quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed. If there is any water left, drain the quinoa thoroughly. Transfer to a serving bowl.
- Meanwhile, heat a heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. Add the pine nuts and dry-fry until just starting to turn golden. Remove from the heat and add to the serving bowl.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Season if you like and serve either warm or cold.
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