This amaranth “polenta” recipe comes from my book, A Good Food Day and it was featured in the Wall Street Journal. If you’ve never tried this nutritionally dense pseudograin, it’s very similar to one of its close cousin, quinoa. It has a milder and sweeter flavor – similar to sweetcorn, making it the perfect substitute for corn in polenta! Like quinoa it can be cooked al dente and into baked goods but unlike quinoa, it’s delicious when cooked to a porridge-like consistency.
The term “pseudograin” refers to any plant seed that has grain-like qualities, but falls outside of the grass (Poaceae) family. These include quinoa, buckwheat, and amaranth. They all have an impressive nutritional profile yet are low in starch and contain no gluten.
I advise freezing the kale before making this recipe, as you want the leaves to shatter into lots of small pieces. Any type of kale will do in this recipe but we enjoy Tuscan (dino) kale in this recipe best.
Serves 6-8