Essential Home Ground Flour Book<\/a> by Sue Becker below will become a family favorite.<\/p>\nNutritionally, these two grains are powerhouses.<\/p>\n
Like most grains, sorghum supplies an abundance of B vitamins as well as minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, iron and potassium. \u00a0\u00a0is a significant source of both protein and fiber. \u00a0It has as much as 16% more protein than most grains and a whopping 12 grams of fiber per serving. \u00a0Sorghum is a rich source of many phytochemicals and antioxidants and shows great potential in improving human health as well as cancer prevention. \u00a0Research studies have found that sorghum supplies nutrients that support good bone density, regulate blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and improve digestion.\u00a0 Worldwide, about 50% of sorghum goes to human consumption but unfortunately, in the US most of the sorghum is used for animal feed or other uses in commercial industries. \u00a0We, the consumer, can help change that by consuming more of this highly nutritious and delicious people food.<\/p>\n
Amaranth is actually a pseudo-grain, meaning it is not truly a grain at all. \u00a0It is the seed of a tall plant with broad green leaves and beautiful, bright colored flowers. \u00a0Its name is derived from the Greek word, amarantos, <\/em>which means \u201cnever fading\u201d as its bright flowers retain their color, even after cutting and drying. \u00a0In Asian cultures it is known as \u201cking seed\u201d or \u201cseed sent by God\u201d in recognition of its unique flavor and role as a source of nourishment. \u00a0Amaranth played a significant role in the Aztec civilization where it was believed to \u201cturn a weak man into a warrior\u201d.<\/p>\nIts reputation as a super food however is not simply based on legend or folklore. \u00a0Amaranth is a considered a complete protein source, meaning it has all 9 amino acids considered essential for human health and growth, including lysine which is either missing or nutritionally deficient in most true grains. \u00a0Researchers have further concluded that the protein in amaranth is among the most nutritious vegetable-based protein and is quite comparable to the protein from animal sources.<\/p>\n
Amaranth is included in the line-up as a whole grain because its nutritional profile and use as a food throughout history is similar to all other true cereal grains. \u00a0However, amaranth supplies about three times the amount of calcium as most other grains and is high in magnesium, iron and potassium. It is also the only \u201cgrain\u201d found to contain vitamin C. \u00a0These are just more good reason to look for ways to add amaranth to you diet.<\/p>\n
Sorghum and amaranth both can be popped like popcorn (though not as big as popcorn), boiled and eaten as a porridge (amaranth is best added in small amounts with other grains) or ground into flour and used in baking. \u00a0Below is one of my favorite recipe combining sorghum and amaranth flour. \u00a0Whether you need to be gluten free or not, you will love the flavor and soft texture of this easy to make bread.<\/p>\n
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread \u2013 GF, DF<\/strong><\/p>\nThe combination of amaranth and sorghum flour gives the perfect texture to this naturally gluten free bread. The tang of the lemons comes through beautifully with the mild flavored flours. More like a cake than a bread, this will become a family favorite whether you need to be gluten free or not.<\/p>\n
Makes 6-8 mini loaves or 12 muffins<\/p>\n
Preheat oven to 375F<\/p>\n
Mini loaf pans or muffin pans, greased or lined with paper
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a03\/4 cup amaranth flour
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a03\/4 cup sorghum flour
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a01\/2 tsp baking powder
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a01\/2 tsp baking soda
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a01\/2 tsp salt
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a01 tbsp poppy seeds
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Zest of 1 lemon
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Juice of 1 lemon
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a01 cup light evaporated cane sugar
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a01\/2 cup olive oil
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02 eggs
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a01 ripe banana, mashed
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02 tsp lemon extract<\/p>\n
In large bowl, combine amaranth flour, sorghum flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, poppy seeds and lemon zest.<\/p>\n
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat lemon juice, sugar, olive oil, eggs, banana and lemon extract until fluffy.<\/p>\n
On low speed, add the flour mixture 1\/2 cup at a time, until thoroughly combined.<\/p>\n
Scoop batter into prepared mini loaf pans or muffin pans. Bake 20-25 minutes.<\/p>\n
Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.<\/p>\n
Tip:<\/strong> These are perfect baked as mini-muffins.\u00a0 Just the right bite of lemony sweetness.\u00a0 Makes about 30 mini-muffins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the last week of “Whole Grain Month”, our grains of the week are Sorghum and Amaranth Special Price for Grain Week (click here to see all grain specials), for all the grains we have featured, will continue through Sept 30 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,3,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grains","category-recipes","category-specials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}