Millet with vegetables is a recipe I made a while ago when I was in Italy for vacation and took a stroll through the “healthy” section of the supermarket. It makes me laugh a little because if that section is healthy, then I must conclude that all the rest is not! Indeed: aisles and aisles of cookies, snacks, chips, etc., and 4 shelves for healthy cooking. I won’t add more. Well, what did I find in my cart? In addition to various kinds of nuts, cereals, and legumes, also many types of whole grains (those that retain bran and germ) and one in particular: millet, which is also gluten-free.
So, determined to use it, I thought of preparing a one-dish meal in an oriental and vegan style, with vegetables, dry and fresh fruits, and plenty of fragrant Indian spices. The millet with oriental vegetables is a bit laborious to prepare, but you can cook and chop some ingredients in advance, even the day before, and keep them ready for use.
The result was really spectacular, very fragrant and full of many different flavors that blend perfectly together. The Dutchman fully approved, and even my son appreciated it, once the eggplants he didn’t like were discarded. In short: health and taste in one dish! Let’s prepare it together…
You can find some other similar recipes here:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Stove, Air Fryer
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: Summer, Fall
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup millet
- 1/2 cup cooked, boiled chickpeas
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (3 measuring teaspoons)
- 1 shallot
- 1 eggplant (large or 2 small)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 bell pepper
- 20 cherry tomatoes
- Half pomegranate
- 1/3 oz pine nuts
- 1.4 oz dried apricots
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- to taste parsley (or mint)
- to taste salt
- Points per serving = 10 WW points
Tools
- Frying Pan
- Air Fryer
Steps
First, prepare the eggplants in cubes as in the first part of the recipe for Eggplants in Funghetto: use a teaspoon of oil for the eggplants.
While the eggplants are roasting, prepare the millet as per package instructions. In my case, it was hulled, so I boiled it in double the volume of slightly salted water for 5 minutes, drained it, and then let it rest covered for half an hour. Then fluff the millet well with a fork and let it cool.
Prepare all the other ingredients: deseed the pomegranate, toast the pine nuts for a few minutes in a pan, drain and rinse the chickpeas well, chop apricots, bell peppers, and cherry tomatoes into pieces, and slice shallot and garlic.
Now you need to flavor and cook all the ingredients…
Sauté the shallot with all the spices in a pan using one teaspoon of oil, then add the roasted eggplants and let them flavor well for a few minutes. Remove from heat and let cool on a plate. In the same pan, fry the garlic in the last teaspoon of oil and then add the bell peppers and a little salt. Sauté for a few minutes, remove from heat, and let cool.
And now all the ingredients are ready to be put together: let everything cool down well or wait until they are at least lukewarm.
First, mix the millet with eggplants and bell peppers, then add chickpeas, apricots, and pomegranate. Adjust the salt if necessary.
Lastly, add the cherry tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, and chopped parsley or mint for decoration. If you have time, let it all marinate for at least half an hour.
And here is our millet with oriental vegetables ready to be served at the table! The portion is really abundant and it is a complete meal of all the nutrients. If you like, you can add a green salad but honestly, it’s already very filling as it is.
This dish is also ideal for picnics or as a takeaway meal for work: just a hermetic container and off you go. And then it can also be prepared the night before… So much taste, so much fragrance, and so much color at the table!
Enjoy your meal!
by Giovanna Buono
FAQ
I can’t find millet
If you can’t find millet but still want to use a gluten-free carbohydrate, I recommend using quinoa, which might be easier to find. Another alternative is sorghum, but it might be even harder to find than millet! If you don’t have gluten intolerance, you can replace millet with rice or any other cereal: farro, barley, or even couscous.
What can I use instead of pomegranate
Pomegranate is only available in autumn. To make this dish in summer, you can simply omit it or replace it with 2 tablespoons of raisins. But be careful: in this case, the WW points per serving will be 11 and not 10.
How long does it keep?
Once prepared, the millet with vegetables keeps in a container in the fridge for 4 days. But millet, eggplants, and bell peppers can also be prepared in advance and frozen separately. Once they are well thawed, you can then add them to the other ingredients.
