Amaranth salad with swiss chard avocado and cilantro

Have you ever tried amaranth? You should! This super healthy seed (it’s not a grain) has a nice nutty flavour and it’s consistency is a bit like mini couscous. Not sure how what to eat it with? Here is an  amaranth salad with swiss chard, avocado and cilantro for you to try it out.

Amaranth
Like quinoa, amaranth is not technically a grain but is the seed of the amaranth plant. One plant can produce up to 500,000 seeds. This ‘super seed’ doesn’t contain any gluten, which makes it a great choice for people who are celiac or gluten intolerant and an excellent way to boost the nutritional power of gluten-free recipes. Most grains like wheat are short on lysine, an amino acid, but that’s not the case for amaranth. This makes amaranth a complete protein because it contains all the essential amino acids. Amaranth’s protein content is about 13 percent, or 26 grams per cup, which is much higher than most other grains. To compare, a cup of long-grain white rice has just 13 grams of protein. (source)

This salad is inspired by guacamole: the combination of avocado, cilantro, red onion and lime juice always works well. The flavor of swiss chard is somewhat like a mix between baby spinach and purslane.

What do you need for one portion?

• 1 portion of amaranth (about 75 grams)
• 1 handful purslane
• 1 handful chopped cilantro
• 1 avocado in pieces
• ½ red onion in pieces
• the juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• pepper and salt

Cook the amaranth (check the package for instructions) and mix it with the olive oil and lime juice. Let it cool down for 10 minutes and stir it a couple of times. Now add the purslane, cilantro, avocado and red onion and mix. Sprinkle a bit of olive oil, pepper and salt on top.

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