A year ago this recipe would definitely have fallen into the category of ‘too weird/scary to try’. Amaranth? Isn’t that some kind of noxious weed? Halloumi? Ummm I think that’s the cheese – it is a cheese, right – my second cousin is obsessed with. Apparently it squeaks. Huh. Why would a cheese squeak? Surely that’s not normal? Let’s just say my breadth of product knowledge and consequent recipe exploration was quite narrow (and ‘safe’) prior to this year. Laugh all you want about my ignorance regarding halloumi, however I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only soul to whom amaranth was a foreign term, at least in a culinary sense. You know that little grain quinoa that’s been hogging the limelight lately (recipes of which can be found here and here)? Amaranth is like it’s shy and unassuming, but just as talented, cousin. Continue reading

