It is probably time for me to go get a wee bit of an upgrade on my eye glasses prescription . . . I had this fantastic idea the other night to whip up a quick batch of quinoa pilaf and have it with a hearty spinach salad to make a nice healthy winter meal. I reached into my pantry and grabbed one of the unlabeled glass jars I use for my grains and such – I was under the misconception that I had grabbed my quinoa and remained in this blissful illusion until lifting the lid on my finished pilaf. It wasn’t until that late stage of the game that I realized that this was not quinoa at all and after a couple of puzzling seconds, I chuckled and concluded that I had just made millet pilaf. huh . . .

I have never willingly or knowingly cooked millet. I keep a jar of it in the pantry because it is the basis of my rejuvelac, which I use to start my cashew and nut yogurt. GD Meg’s recipe for cashew yogurt made from millet-rejuvelac

To my surprise, whatever I had done thinking I was cooking with quinoa (including soaking and rinsing before cooking) had worked remarkably well with millet! The taste was a little dull and it needed a bit more salt, but otherwise, not bad at all.

It still cracks me up to think about making accidental millet pilaf, but I thought I would now take a closer look at millet and see what I may have been missing.

What surprised me most wasn’t that it is actually a seed that is generally lumped in with grain because of how it is cooked and served, but that cracked millet is couscous. How did I not know that? I amaze myself with how little I really know sometimes.

The good news – for me – is that it is indeed gluten-free. It’s also high in magnesium, manganese, tryptophan and phosphorus. All good stuff. Here’s a great and thorough post on millet and it’s benefits that I found, and of course the nutritional analysis of millet.

Here’s my recipe for accidental millet pilaf

ingredients

1 cup millet
2 cups vegetable broth
2 carrots, chopped finely
4 mushrooms, chopped finely
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 – 2 cloves crushed garlic
salt to taste

instructions

I did rinse the millet because I thought it was quinoa, but I’m not sure it is necessary . . . In a medium saucepan, sauté the onions in the olive oil for a minute or two, than add the carrots, then mushrooms, then garlic. Saute everything until the mushrooms are cooked and the onions are clear and soft. Add the millet and mix well for a minute or so, then add the vegetable broth. Let that get to a roiling boil, then place the lid on and turn the burner to low and let it cook for 20 minutes. 

eat. blog. be merry!