SIMPLI Good
OVERNIGHT AMARANTH PORRIDGE
Navigating cooking amaranth can be a bit tricky if you’ve never tried or heard of it, which is why we partnered with our friend and recipe developer Vilda Gonzalez to take you through an exploratory journey of this ancient grain in a delightful recipe!
Cook Time: 30 MIN
Serving Size: 4-6
Amaranth is one of the best ingredients we can incorporate into our diet due to its exceptional nutritional profile. Rich in micronutrients and fiber, it’s a wonderfully versatile, nutty ancient grain that pairs perfectly with both savory and sweet flavors alike. Navigating cooking amaranth can be a bit tricky if you’ve never tried or heard of it, which is why we partnered with our friend and popular recipe developer Vilda Gonzalez to take you through an exploratory journey of this ancient grain in a delightful, accessible recipe!
Vilda Gonzalez is a chef, recipe developer, and creative. Her work takes many forms, from cooking private dinners, to feeding big groups on retreat, developing recipes for brands, teaching cooking classes, and advocating for more sustainable local food systems, but the through line is constant: she believes that food should be delicious, flavorful, and indulgent, while also being deeply nourishing, sourced with integrity, and inherently healthful. Her mission is to rewire our collective relationship to what eating well truly means, through the lens of seasonality, sensuality, and intuitive home cooking.
This overnight porridge recipe trades in the more traditional rolled oats for cooked amaranth. Similarly to our beans, amaranth (and all grains for that matter) benefit from a leisurely overnight soak in filtered water. With grains in particular, soaking (preferably with a splash of something acidic, like an unfiltered apple cider vinegar) helps to neutralize anti-nutrients that are inherently present in the grain, helping to render a more nutritious and digestible cooked product. Once cooked, we fold the nutty grain into an aromatic base of coconut milk and chia seeds seasoned with vanilla extract, cardamom, and a touch of honey. You can treat this base recipe as a blank canvas to experiment with; we added toasted almonds and dried strawberries for texture and chew, but feel free to play around with other toasted nuts, seeds, or dried fruits.
INGREDIENTS
For the amaranth
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Filtered water to cook and soak
1 generous pinch SIMPLi Peruvian Pink Salt
For the amaranth
4 cups cooked amaranth
3 cups full fat coconut milk
3 tablespoons honey, plus more to serve
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh ground cardamom
1 generous pinch SIMPLi Peruvian Pink Salt
½ cup chia seeds
Zest of 1 lime, plus more to serve
1 cup roughly chopped toasted almonds, plus more to serve
1 cup roughly chopped dried strawberries, plus more to serve
INSTRUCTIONS
Pour the contents of a bag of SIMPLi amaranth into a mixing bowl. Add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and generously cover the amaranth with filtered water. Set aside to soak for 6-8 hours.
Once the amaranth has soaked, strain and rinse it in a fine mesh sieve, then transfer to a saucepan. Add 3½ cups filtered water and a pinch of salt, bring to a boil, then cover with a tight-fitting lid and lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, undisturbed, for 20 minutes or until the water has been absorbed and the cooked amaranth resembles the consistency of a thick porridge. Take off the heat and let the amaranth rest, undisturbed, for a further 5 minutes. Remove the lid and give everything a good stir.
While the amaranth is cooking, combine the coconut milk, honey, vanilla extract, cardamom, and salt. Whisk in the chia seeds. Set aside to let the chia seeds hydrate for 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes to prevent them from clumping.
Add 3 cups of cooked amaranth and the lime zest to the coconut milk mixture and whisk well to combine. Transfer the contents of the bowl to an airtight container and place in the fridge to set overnight.
The next day the texture of your amaranth porridge should look like a love child between overnight oats and chia pudding; lush and spoonable, rich and silky, but not cloyingly thick. Fold through the dried strawberries and toasted almonds.
Serve topped with more dried strawberries, another scattering of nuts, a drizzle of honey, and a touch of lime zest.
The porridge will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. For more delicious recipes like this, you can subscribe to Vilda’s Substack here.
Re-create this recipe and find our SIMPLi products at a store near you! For more information and other methods on how to prep our beans & grains, check out our thorough cooking guides.