info: Amaranth greens are high in protein, iron & calcium. Often substituted for spinach, they have a similar earthy flavor.

storage: Wrap roots in damp paper towels but keep the greens dry. Refrigerate. Best used within a few days.

preparation: Wash in tepid water. Separate stalks from leaves. Amaranth greens go well in salads, soups, and stir-fries. Eat raw or boil/steam/saute until tender (stalks take longer to cook).

recipes: history:

excerpt from Mexico's Grain Of The Gods: Cooking With Amaranth
Current interest in amaranth, while well-deserved, gives no indication of the cultural conflict it once caused during the sometimes painful birth of a new nation. As fully as amaranth was appreciated by the indigenous population of what is now Mexico, it was just as fully reviled by the Europeans, as one of the foods they associated with "pagan practices."

Amaranth, a plant used for both its spinach-like leaves and for the grain gathered from the center stalk, had tremendous ritual significance for the Aztecs. Many of their ceremonies included the formation of an image of one of the gods, made with a paste of amaranth grains mixed with honey. Tlaloc, the rain god, Ome Acatl, the patron of banquets, and Xochipilli, the god of youth, poetry and flowers, were all honored with amaranth likenesses. The images, once formed, were worshipped, broken up and distributed to eat. The birth of a male child was also an occasion involving amaranth grains, this time made into a paste for the formation of a replica shield, bow and arrows, symbolic of hunting in particular and manly pursuits in general.

The leaves, too, had their place in ceremonial meals, ground and used in the tamales offered to the fire god Xiuhtecuhtli, and to the dead on the feast of Huauquiltamalcualitztli, a mouthful to say as well as to eat, meaning "the meal of the amaranth tamales."...  read more




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