The lovely millet! - a superfood!

Moroccan Millet Slice topped with Roast Pumpkin and a Tomato, Artichoke Heart & Coriander Salsa 

I don’t remember the first time I had millet or who introduced me to it. I do remember over the years, when the cupboards got bare I would always find a jar of millet push up the back into a dark corner. It was a grain I always wanted to eat but never really knew what to do with it. This was before the days of internet so I couldn’t just ‘google it’ and see what recipes appeared. Over the years I have experimented
with recipes and have grown to love Millet.

I love the fact that millet is grown in Australia and it is the cheapest grain. It’s cheaper than Australia rice and Quinoa that is also grown in Australia. It’s also so versatile. I love to cook millet patties, it makes a wonderful salad with Roast vegetables, and I also use it like I would rice to accompany any steamed vegetable dish or a Moroccan curry. I think my favorite millet dish is millet slice.
 
I cooked this dish for some friends who came around for dinner the other night. Everyone loved it. It’s one of those grains that can be a bit scary to cook yourself but often when we eat it, we love it. I know I have avoided it on and off over the years, from fear of not cooking it light and fluffy! Now I’m making myself cook it. It’s such a superfood, it’s worth feeling the fear and doing it anyway! Millet has a good nutritional reputation out there if you begin to look around for it.
 
Paavo Airola was an International nutritionist, naturopath, physician, educator and author he said ‘it’s the most nutritious cereal in the world!’ High in Protein (it contains all of the 8 essential amino acids) and is low in starches, it is very easy to digest, rich in silicon (vital for good health of hair, skin, teeth, eyes and nails) and is alkaline.
All you need is a good recipe or two and millet can be easily incorporated into you weekly diet. Try this one and see if you like it?
 
Millet slice
 
2 Cups millet (cook in 4 cups filtered water)
2 medium onions, diced
1 tbs cumin seeds
2 tbs coriander powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tbs yeast flakes
1/3 bunch fresh coriander, stems and leaves chopped finely (you can use mint or parsley too)
1 dsp salt
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup tahini
½ cup filtered water


Cooking the pumpkin
Roast the pumpkin first. I like to cut it into one inch thick wedges but feel free to cut it how you would like to present it. Lay the pumpkin pieces flat on a baking try and douse with olive oil and generous sprinkle some salt & cracked pepper. Place in the oven at 190c and bake until golden and soft.
 
Cooking the millet
Don’t be scared of cooking millet. In this recipe it doesn’t matter if you over cook it or if it goes mushy! So give this super food a go. It’s delicious!
Put the millet into a saucepan of water and bring to the boil. Then turn down to simmer and allow it to cook and absorb the water for approximately 20 minutes. By now chances are the millet has soaked up all the water and should look mostly cooked (yellowish in colour, not much uncooked grain left). Keep the lid on! Now turn off the millet and let it steam in the pot for a further 10 minutes or until you are ready to use it.
 
While the millet is cooking, you can sauté your onions on a medium heat, along with all the spices, until the onion is soft.
Then place the millet in a large mixing bowl, add the onion/spice mix, yeast flakes, and the chopped fresh coriander. Mix the tahini, olive oil, salt & water together with a whisk, until all the lumps are smooth. Pour over the millet and mix by hand or with a wooden spoon if millet is too hot to handle! Press into a baking dish approximately 20cm x 30cm and approximately 1.5 – 2 inches high.
 
Drizzle olive oil over the top of the slice and scatter sesame seeds.
Bake for 30 minutes at 190C.
Top each piece with a roast pumpkin wedge and 3-4 table spoons of the Tomato, Artichoke and Coriander salad on top of that.
Serve warm or cold.
Great for a lunch box snack to take to work or for kids lunch boxes.