Wednesday, November 28, 2012

It's Millet time!

Here are two millet recipes from Forks Over Knives: The Cookbook, the November VegCookBook Club pick. I've been wanting to experiment with this grain, on the unsolicited recommendation of an OK Natural Food Store counter person. While millet isn't "the new quinoa" in my opinion, it does offer variety from brown rice, barley, and other staple whole grains.

Millet Loaf Balls
The cookbook has a two-page recipe for this plant-based take on traditional meatloaf. The loaf recipe itself isn't too complex but it appears with two detailed variations: BBQ balls and Swedish Meatballs. I ended up making balls, without BBQ sauce, as the millet loaf didn't bind very well on the initial bake. (In fact, it ungraciously slopped out of the loaf pan.) This simple variation only took another 15 minutes to bake. I served them like mini build-your-own sandwiches with small squares of bread, extra ketchup, and two types of mustard: Dijon and horseradish.
Millet Stew
The millet worked better in this stew recipe, which featured North African-inspired spices. I didn't have any cauliflower on hand, so I added broccoli, okra, and mushrooms for the main veggies. This recipe was too cinnamony for me and could benefit from the addition of chickpeas or another bean. The cookbook has definitely inspired me to use millet in my future soup-making.

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