Amaranth Corn Chowder

4 cups vegetable broth
2/3 cup uncooked amaranth, rinsed
1 bay leaf
1 Tbs olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp chipotle powder
4 cups frozen corn
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 Tbs fresh lime juice
1 Tbs soy sauce

1) In a large pot, combine stock, amaranth and bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, 25 minutes.
2) Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet, add olive oil, garlic, bell pepper, cumin, oregano and chipotle powder. Over medium heat, cook 5 minutes, stirring often. Stir in 2 cups of corn.
3) Stir corn mixture into amaranth mixture. Cover partially, increase heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Discard bay leaf.
4) Preheat oven to 450F. Spray a flat baking sheet with olive oil spray. Evenly distribute the remaining 2 cups of corn across this baking sheet. Spray top of corn with olive oil spray. Bake in oven 15 minutes, or until beginning to brown.
5) Remove soup from heat. Add roasted corn, cilantro, lime juice and soy sauce. Serve.

Review: I bought amaranth at TJ Maxx, as I read it's a hot new ingredient. After two months of owning it without finding a recipe, I went searching for one. This one was quite complicated and I omitted some very hard to find ingredients (and I decided to not run this through a blender since I dislike soup texture so much). Amaranth appears to be similar in taste to quinoa (though it smells like potting soil) but is quite a bit smaller. As you can see in the pic, it looks weird and not something with a good mouth feel. It just feels gritty and didn't add much to the chowder. However, I'm sure it helped make it more filling. The taste of the chowder was pretty wonderful. The smoky seasonings, combined with lime/cilantro and soy sauce sounded really weird to me. However, it works, especially with the roasted corn added. I may need to make this again, but without the amaranth!

Adapted from:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/amaranth-corn-chowder/