Millet with Mushrooms and Garlic

Some personal stuff.

It has been a minute.  I have been so far out of the blogging routine because Instagram has been such a quick and easy way to share my day-to-day and quickly thrown together recipes.  But, for the sake of followers (and myself), I thought I would start posting some of my regular recipes again on the blog.  Yes, I totally use my blog as a personal recipe box, with my Three-Bean Chili and Vegan Ranch Dressing being the two recipes I look up and cook most often.  Hopefully, you get as much use out of my recipes as I do. ;)

Lots of things have been happening around the kitchen and our household since I last formally posted on the blog.  Like most of you, the virus has created a fairly isolated Spring and Summer of 2020 so far.  BUT, we have an additional reason to quarantine at this time.  If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you already know the answer... We are due with baby #2, a girl, in August!  At 37 weeks currently, it feels like it is just around the corner and I still feel like I have a million things left to get done.

I'm so grateful to have had a reasonably comfortable pregnancy with no health issues.  Many of my appointments with my midwife this time have been virtual, which I really don't mind not having to drive or mask up for very many visits.  At this point, baby girl's growth is great and we are just counting down the days until she makes her appearance.  Her official due date is 8/8, and with Ben's birthday being 10/10, we think that would be a wonderful pattern to have with our kid's birthdays.  We'll see if she agrees when the time comes.

The attempted family photo over 4th of July weekend. 

Literally the best family photo we've ever taken. 
This was on a lovely hike near the Carbon River in Rainier National Park.

Ben checking out a special tree cubby in Rainier National Park. 
This area of the park, north of the mountain, is all old-growth forest.

The last few weeks I have been organizing and preparing her room and the house before the birth (the nesting instinct is STRONG this time!).  I'd like to leave no to-do list item unchecked, so when I get any burst of energy, I take it and waddle with it (see what I did there ;)).  This weekend we cleaned out and cleaned up the garage, got the car seats cleaned and resituated, and I did some freezer meal prep (Three-Bean Chili to the postpartum rescue).

Some recipe stuff.

This Spring I read Dr. Fuhrman's newest book, Eat for Life (affiliate link), and took a week or so to mourn the need to ditch rice varieties from my diet.  He explains in the book that rice, even organic brown or wild rice, should be limited since they contain arsenic.  The arsenic is now so prevalent in US soils that cultivate rice from decades of pesticide and herbicide abuse, that we are unlikely to find rice in the US that doesn't have some amount of arsenic in it.  That is all to say, millet and I have become good buddies since I've resolved to severely limit my rice intake.

Millet is not a grain, but, like quinoa, is actually a seed.  Now, quinoa is great, and it definitely tastes better when you give it a good rinse and cook it properly, but I have never been crazy about it.  The Husband, on the other hand, loves quinoa and will gladly eat it most days of the week.  I have come to prefer millet over most whole grains, so it is now my go-to "grain" for hot dishes and hearty salads.  It cooks up about as quickly as quinoa and has a great fridge shelf life of 5-7 days depending on the type of seasonings or sauces you add.



Because millet is a small seed, it can be a bit tricky to wash it.  In my recipes, I always suggest fine-mesh strainer, but I actually don't own one.  I have one of these OXO strainers specifically meant to wash grains and seeds.  If you're looking to add to your kitchen tools, this is the one I use and love.

I have found that sometimes millet gets a little dry sitting in the fridge, so if I'm going to reheat it, I add a tablespoon or two of water or vegetable broth before reheating.  This can usually be avoided if I add a dressing, but adding sauce often shortens its fridge storage time.

Millet with Mushrooms and Garlic

Time: 5-minute prep, 30-minute cook time

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients:

        1 cup dried millet, rinsed and drained

        3 cups water (or no-salt vegetable broth)

        1 cup mushrooms, roughly chopped (or 1/2 cup dried mushrooms)

        4-6+ cloves garlic, minced

        Liquid aminos and nutritional yeast to taste

Instructions:

1.)  In a fine-mesh strainer, rinse and drain the millet.

2.)  In a medium saucepan, bring the water (or broth), millet, mushrooms, and garlic to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Cover and simmer for an additional 10 minutes or so, checking occasionally and turning the heat off once all of the liquid is absorbed.  Allow to sit for 5 minutes with the lid on and removed from the heat.

3.)  Stir lightly to fluff with a fork.  Serve hot and topped with liquid aminos and nutritional yeast to taste.  See notes for serving suggestions.

Amy's Notes:

I like to serve this millet hot as part of a nourish bowl.  For example, I served 1 cup of millet for lunch the other day with water sauteed greens and onions, sweet potatoes, tofu, zucchini, avocado, and a tahini mustard sauce.  (Please note that I am pregnant, so this is more avocado than I would normally add otherwise.  And I'm not mad about it one bit!)

Want to up your salad game? Add 1/2 to 1 cup of this millet dish from the fridge to your next big green salad.  I particularly like it with raw kale, a bean or lentil, pepitas, raw red onion, shredded apple, and a creamy cashew dressing like my Vegan Ranch Dressing.

Health and Happiness,

Amy