Amaranth is one of the confusing foods for me. The Type O Diet says it is neutral. The Hunter Diet says it is black dot toxic. The Gatherer Diet says it is superbeneficial. I have considered it a frequent neutral for me.

However “frequent” refers more to what is allowed than to what actually happens at my house. The Type A Diet says amaranth is beneficial. That is an even better reason for my serving amaranth frequently. But to be honest, none of us liked it very much. It smelled funny when it was cooking in a pot on the stove. At the end of the suggested cooking time it was a gooey ball. It stuck to the fork. It tasted ok, but it was not particularly appetizing. It did not get a good response when I served it.

I have really enjoyed enjoy the rice cooker I got for Christmas. Brown rice is perfect every time. I had a friend who complained that her rice sometimes formed a crust in the bottom of the cooker. I was putting 1-2 teaspoons of light olive oil in the water before I added the rice. Every time I don’t add the oil, I get the same crust, but with the oil it is no problem.

One time instead of rice, I cooked quinoa in the rice cooker. It came out perfect.

I was preparing to cook dinner one night and saw an unopened bag of amaranth in the pantry. I decided to try it in the rice cooker. I set a timer to check on it when it had cooked the amount of time recommended on the package. I could still see water boiling, so I decided to trust the rice cooker.

When the cooker turned off, the amaranth was in a solid piece. It was not as dry as cornbread or flax bread, but I could slice it and lift it out with a spatula. There was none of the sticky texture that always happened when I cooked it on the stove. And there was no bad smell in the kitchen.

I didn’t tell my husband what it was. I just put the slices alongside the cod and vegetables. He took a slice and liked it. We both did. We ate it with a fork, sort of like you would eat quiche.

If you have tried amaranth in the past and didn’t think you cared for it, give it another chance. Cook it in a rice cooker. If you don’t have a rice cooker . . . well, it sure makes a great Christmas gift.