When I was in college, some friends found a patch of amaranth growing wild in the school’s community garden, and we decided to try to make flour from its seeds. This was before the internet began to overflow with information on all things edible. All my friends and I had as a guide was a tattered copy of Peterson’s Field Guide to Wild Edible Plants. Despite the unappetizing gruel that we made, I still remember winnowing, roasting, and singing with friends in that college dormitory kitchen.
The disturbed soils of neglected gardens are the perfect habitat for this scraggly plant. Despite its remarkable edibility, red-rooted amaranth (Amaranthus retroflexus) is a coarse and plain-looking plant. It can grow up to 8 feet tall. Its leaves are simple, alternate, entire, and grow on long stalks. The individual flowers are green with tiny indistinguishable parts, so it’s hard to recognize them as flowers, even when they are in full bloom. When they do finally bloom in late summer and early fall, they grow in a bristling, spiky cluster that can be up to 2 feet long.
The leaves and stems of young amaranth shoots make versatile cooked greens that are surprisingly soft, but greens aren’t the reason that members of the Amaranthus genus were domesticated by pre-Columbian civilizations across South and Central America. That was all about the grain-like seeds.
These seeds are tiny but easy to gather in great quantities. On a dry day in the fall when the leaves have died back, wrap a hand around the long, brown spikes and pull, stripping the seeds and the dry, leafy bracts into a container. The bracts are not good to eat, so the seed must be separated by winnowing. I rub a handful of the seeds between my hands to loosen the bracts and drop them over a cloth on a day with a light breeze. The wind carries away the chaff while the heavier seeds fall straight down. It may take numerous rounds to finally and fully separate the seeds, but it is worth the effort to do this right. When all the chaff has been removed, I’ll put the seeds in a jelly bag and give them a good rinse.
Once the seeds are clean, pour them in a pan and roast them over medium heat. They’ll pop open a bit like popcorn, and you’ll see their light insides. Then, the seeds will need to be ground. A clean coffee grinder is well suited to the job. With patience, the seeds can be ground into a delicious flour. Experiment with replacing the wheat flour in your favorite pancake recipe with amaranth. Or if you’re less patient, a coarse grinding will leave a mix of ground and unground seeds that are perfect for a grits-like breakfast cereal. Served with butter and brown sugar, this treat will please even the most hardened wild food skeptics.
I’ve learned a lot about wild foods since that day I muddled through my first winnowing. But even if the foods I prepare today are tastier than those first humbling attempts, it is those early adventures that I recall most vividly. Amaranth reminds me of the joy of jumping into new things even if they don’t quite go the way I’ve planned.