The Vegetarian’s Miracle Seeds

July 7th, 2007 | Food

My sister’s been a vegetarian for at least ten years now, which I find really impressive. She was telling me the other day about two new grains she’s found – Amaranth and Quinoa which are great for vegetarians and the health conscious. So, I asked her to write an article for my blog about them …

Frances Kerr

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quinoa Quite by chance I recently stumbled across mention of two complete protein grains, Amaranth and Quinoa. Being a vegetarian and conscious of getting my daily fix of vitamins and minerals, you can imagine I was pretty excited at this discovery.

Amaranth seeds are available “puffed” from health food stores. With a taste that reminds me of puffed wheat cereal, these little amaranth puffs can be sprinkled on or mixed with just about anything from muesli to ice-cream, yoghurt and salads. With a total of 17g protein per 100g, I regularly mix a couple of spoonfuls into my muesli and have been feeling the better for it.

Amaranth seeds can also be ground to produce a flour or cooked and used as you would other whole grains. Amaranth contains more fibre and iron than wheat and two times the calcium as milk. It also contains potassium, phosphorous and vitamins A and C.

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is another versatile little seed high in protein. Currently there is a worldwide shortage of quinoa so it can be a little expensive but one small packet will last you awhile. Quinoa can be cooked and used just like couscous or rice by bringing 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water to the boil and simmering for 10-15mins until al dente. Quinoa has a coating of bitter-tasting saponins so it is best to soak the seeds in water for two hours prior to use. Most commercially available quinoa however only needs a good rinse. Quinoa flour is available for gluten-free baking as is quinoa milk for those wanting a dairy free alternative. Not only does quinoa contain all essential amino acids, but also manganese, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorous.

If you are interested in experimenting with these wonderful seeds, there are a plethora of recipes on the Internet - enjoy!

Gillian Kerr

Fran Kerr is the founding editor of High on Health. To cure your acne, sign up to Fran's FREE acne cure mini-course or download her latest how to guide, Eat Away Your Acne.