Comfort in Cauliflower and Millet

Since I got the original recipe for this dish from a client of mine who found it in the newspaper, I’ve made it three times. She had never tried millet, so I made it and brought it to our next meeting. It’s currently one of my favorite recipes. One, because I adore roasted cauliflower (which is one thing I changed with this recipe), and another, because I’ve never really cared for mashed (white) potatoes but like the idea of them as comfort food. This beautiful concoction, though, has the look and feel of mashed potatoes, but tastes even better, is much higher in protein, and provides all the benefits of a cruciferous vegetable, including fiber.

As mentioned, the original recipe called for boiling the cauliflower, however, I decided to roast it instead. I also substitute almond or nut milk for the soymilk and use it to replace the water, but any milk would work. I also recommend adding the caraway seeds. It adds a nice taste to the mild flavors of the millet and cauliflower.

Mashed Cauliflower and Millet

½ c uncooked millet, soaked for several hours and rinsed

1 c water

1 head cauliflower

1T grapeseed oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon caraway seeds

½ to ¾ cup almond or other milk

Freshly ground pepper and nutmeg

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bring the water and millet to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until cooked, ~10-15 min. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, cut cauliflower into florets, coat lightly with the grapeseed oil and sprinkle with caraway seeds and a little salt. Transfer to a baking dish and roast in oven until tender, ~30 min. Transfer to a food processor.

3. Add the cooked millet and milk to the cauliflower. Blend until they reach the desired consistence, then add pepper and nutmeg to taste. Add nutritional yeast flakes if desired.

Millet is My New Rice - Fried Millet

The other day, I was in the mood for fried rice but didn’t have the type of rice I wanted to use, so I “settled” for millet. Wow, I’m so glad I did. The flavors and texture were equally as good with millet and the nutritional value may even be better with this ancient grain.

Millet was actually the principle grain in China before rice became popular and is still relied on in Africa, Asia, and Russia. It’s gluten-free, high in protein, fiber, iron, magnesium and potassium and is a source of silica, which is important for maintaining bone health.

I find the creamy texture also great for making breakfast porridge and it makes a hardy addition to soups. The recipe below is colorful and oh so tasty!

Fried Millet

3 cups of cooked millet (cooked in vegetable broth)

grapeseed oil for sautéing and frying

2 c green cabbage, finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 large carrot, shredded

2 eggs, scrambled

2 – 3 T tamari or soy sauce

black pepper to taste

¼ c parsley, chopped

sesame oil for drizzling

1. Heat 1 – 2 T oil in dutch oven and add the cabbage and onion. Stir well and sauté until tender.

2. Add the carrot and continue to cook for a few minutes.

3. Move the vegetables to the side of the pan and add 2 – 3 T more of oil. Add the millet and mix to coat it lightly in oil.

4. Mix the vegetables and millet together and “fry” the mixture, allowing the millet to brown slightly.

5. Fold in the egg and parsley, then turn off the heat and drizzle with sesame oil. Serve hot/warm.

Shredded Beet and Jicama Salad

Beets – I love them. I love them roasted, juiced, and in salads, especially shredded. The other day felt balmy compared to the winter we’ve had and I’m already craving crunchy, refreshing salads. Not so surprising since I lived on warm bowls of something for the last few months.

So over the weekend, out of nowhere, I decided to combine shredded beets and jicama, a wonderfully, mild, slightly sweet, and crunchy root vegetable. The texture almost reminds me of a crisp pear. The combination was begging for something citrusy, so I added the last of my champagne-citrus vinegar, some freshly-squeezed orange juice, and sea salt. That was it (almost).

The result was so delicious that I already know what I’ll be eating a lot of this Spring and Summer. Not to mention that I’ll be getting a good arm workout from shredding the vegetables : ) Kidding aside, you can shred them in the food processor if you’d like, but in the time it takes to take it out, set it up, shred, empty, and wash, you could have done it by hand.

I still love my food processor, though. In fact, I used it to make dinner tonight which was a gluten-free pizza with a mustard greens and kale sauce that I love.

But here’s the recipe for the salad:

Shredded Beet and Jicama Salad

1 medium beet, shredded

1 medium jicama, shredded

1 T citrus vinegar

2-3 T freshly-squeezed orange juice

1 T olive or grapeseed oil

sea salt to taste

Combine all the ingredients, chill for 30 minutes or more, then serve. That’s it. Simple and delicious! I had to stop myself from eating the entire bowl.

It went well with a millet cauliflower “potato” dish and sautéed beet greens. I’ll be posting the potato recipe soon!