Millet Salad

Millet Salad

I tried a new dish last Saturday at my cooking class. It turned out delicious and its a great new way to bring millet to the table! You can buy millet at any natural grocer and its very cheap :)
millet has great benefits for us as it contains iron and magnesium, its an excellent source of protein, its high in fiber, and even helps wounds heal faster because its rich in zinc!
Its a healthy delicious dish that looks great as well!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Millet
1/2 cup Peas, or Edamame
1 cup Water
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Tumeric (optional)
1 teaspoon Ghee (clarified butter)
1/4 Onion, Finely chopped
10 Cherry Tomatoes, halves
1/4 cup Cashew Nuts, lightly toasted
1/2 cup Basil, chopped
Handful of greens ( spinach, baby bok choy, beet greens, kale....)

Lemon Dressing:

1/2 Lemon, 1 Jalapeno Pepper, 1 tablespoon Liquid Aminos (soy sauce), 1 tablespoon Olive Oil,
 pinch of Black Pepper.

Directions:

1. Soak millet 30 minutes and rinse well. in the pot, millet, water, salt, tumeric,and boil 2 minutes, and turn heat to low simmer 10 minutes. move from pot to cool it and separate it.
2. Rinse and cut greens and tomatoes.
3. Lightly roasted cashew in the pan.
4. Chopped pepper, onion, and basil set aside
5. In a small bowl, mix well all the dressing ingredients.
6. In the pan, saute Onion with *ghee or water 2 min. add tomatoes, greens, and basil and lightly saute.
7. In the plate, place millet, saute vegetables, and sprinkle toasted Cashew on the top and pour dressing in it and serve.
*Ghee (Clarified Butter): You can buy at any natural grocer. Also I will post on the my blog next time how to make it.

Fresh Spring Rolls

Fresh Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

 8 rice wrappers

16 cooked shrimp, can be substitute such as Tofu or organic meat

2 carrots Julienne strips

1 cups mung bean sprouts

1 cucumber Julienne strips (English cucumber for best results)

8 large red or green leaves lettuce 

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

2 tablespoon basil

2 Avocados
Optional; Add mint leaves, mango, slice of apples,or any seasonal fruits makes fruit spring rolls.

Peanut Sauce:

2 Tablespoons  Braggs Aminos (soy sauce)

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

3 Tablespoons water

¼ cup chunky organic peanut butter

3 teaspoons spicy brown mustard

1 teaspoons Golden balsamic or organic apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon ginger, minced *(I like putting a lot more in)

2 teaspoons honey (Agave nectar)

                                                                   1 teaspoon crushed red chile flakes

* If using regular peanut butter and soy sauce, add less of those two ingredients because its saltier than organic.  Or add more water if the sauce is too salty for you.

Directions:

Make it ahead, Combine ingredients for peanut sauce, set aside.

On a big platter arrange all the vegetables what you prepared (Carrots, Cucumber, Avocado, Sprouts, Purple cabbage, Lettuce....) to get ready to roll.

Boil 4 cups water in a pot.  Then move the hot water into a shallow and round wide mouth bowl or container for dipping the rice paper.

Quickly dip wrapper in hot water, until  it feels rubbery (15-20 seconds).

Layer the ingredients on wrapper. The easiest way for me is putting the lettuce first and then the rest of the ingredients.

Fold the bottom of wrapper over the top of the ingredients. Fold and roll up like a burrito, place seam side down on plate. 

Cover with wet lettuce leaves or damp towel to keep them from drying out.

You can serve like a burrito, slice bite size as picture or slice in half diagonally. 

Serve with: Peanut Sauce, sweet chili sauce, or salad dressings such as asian dressing or honey mustard