This chewy and protein packed vegetable Coconut Amaranth Pilaf is not only beautiful to serve but delicious to the taste buds also. Its made with simple ingredients and in easy steps.
After a great workout I like to sit down with a hearty meal for my brunch/lunch.
I love something warm and tasteful, flavored with some spice mix, have a balance of protein, fat, fiber and carbohydrate and of course easy and quick to cook.
I am a fan of amaranth grains. I usually keep extra boiled amaranth in my refrigerator. This time I wanted something savory for my taste buds.
I decided to add some fresh vegetables and coconut flavor in my savory amaranth pilaf. I came up with this hearty, delicious and aromatic Vegetable Coconut Amaranth Pilaf. YUM!
How to make Vegetable Coconut Amaranth Pilaf
- For this I heated some oil in a pan, added mustard seeds and white sesame seeds, spiced it with whole dry red chilies.
- Then, I tossed in lots of vegetables, flavored with fresh shredded coconut.
- Next, I added some turmeric for the lovely color and health benefits, folded in boiled amaranth grains.
- Later, I squeezed some lemon juice.
- Lastly, I garnished with fresh chopped cilantro and served it to myself.
I devoured every bite of it.
Vegetable Coconut Amaranth Pilaf kept me full for longer. It also provided me with sufficient energy to tackle my super hyper toddler along with my other chores.
The combination of the crunchy bites of vegetables combined with Amaranth which again is a chewable grain added quite a bit of fiber to my diet. It also kept my tummy happy and me within my calorie limit all day long.
You may also like:
Peanut Butter Banana Amaranth Cookies
Sriracha Butternut Squash Amaranth Soup
Did you make it?
If you get a chance to make this recipe then please leave your feedback in the comments below along with the ratings. In addition, you may tag @kiipfit on Instagram because we would love to see what you cooked.
Vegetable Coconut Amaranth Pilaf
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp white sesame seeds
- 4 whole dry red chilies (roughly broken)
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup frozen peas carrot
- 1/4 cups chopped red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped asparagus
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut (fresh/frozen)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp salt or as per taste
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 cups cooked amaranth (cook as per package instruction)
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (to garnish)
- 1 tbsp unsweetened dry coconut flakes (to garnish)
Instructions
- Heat oil in a nonstick pan and add mustard seeds. When the seeds start to crackle add white sesame seeds and broken dry red chilies.
- Add onions and saute until translucent (not brown).
- Add rest of the vegetables and cook for couple of minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
- Add shredded coconut and saute till you get the aroma of coconut. (About 2-3 minutes).
- Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt and lemon juice to it and mix properly.
- Lastly, add boiled amaranth and mix with a wooden spoon since amaranth would be sticky.
- Garnish and serve warm with lemon wedges.
Notes
- 1 cup dry amaranth grains combined with 3 cups of water yields about 2 cups of cooked amaranth.
- Cooked Amaranth is sticky in texture but crunchy in taste.
- Feel free to add more lemon juice according to taste.
- This recipe is slightly spicy so if desired you can leave out red chili powder.
Nutrition
Cleone says
This looks amazing. We do not use oil, is there another recommendation you would suggest?
Gunjan says
Thank you Cleone. If you want to avoid to oil then you may heat 1 tbsp vegetable broth and follow the rest of the steps. Hope this helps.
Colleen Valentine says
What are the small dark round things? They look like capers…..
Gunjan says
Hi, they are not capers. They are mustard seeds.