Grilled Millet and Butternut Squash Cakes

I figured my family would throw me out if I only planned soup this week. This recipe looked interesting to me- I'm always looking for a good way to use millet. Plus I still have 2 butternut squash sitting on my counter from this summer. I got this recipe from Gluten Free Girl who in turn got it from The Splendid Grain cookbook.


GRILLED MILLET AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH CAKES, from The Splendid Grain (158)
1 cup of millet
1 teaspoon of mustard seed
1 teaspoon of curry powder
2 1/2 cups of water
2 cups of peeled and diced butternut squash
1 teaspoon of minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 cup of chopped fresh cilantro

Put the millet in a saucepan or wok over high heat. Toast, stirring constantly, for about four minutes, or until the first seed pops. Wash, drain, and set aside. Toast the msutard seeds and curry powder for one minute, or until aromatic.
Put the millet and spices, water, squash, ginger, and sea salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes, or until the millet has absorbed all the water. Remove from the heat and let cool.
Add the cilantro to the millet mixture. Wet your hands and blend the millet mixture to a fairly uniform consistency. Form into twelve cakes. Grill for about three minutes on each side, or until golden. Serve hot.

 **The recipe was very easy to make. As you can see, I didn't add the cilantro to the mixture. BIG mistake. The cakes just didn't have the depth of flavor that they needed. The kale, on the other hand, was delicious as ever.

Curry Chickpea Potpie

This looked like a great recipe to try. Perfect for this week's harvest basket plus the leftover veges I still have in my fridge! You can find the recipe on Martha Stewart's website.

Serves 6

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup millet
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 8 ounces broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cups shredded green cabbage
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 8 ounces small white potatoes, quartered
• 1/3 cup red lentils
• 1/2 cup canned chickpeas, drained
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Raita

Directions

1. Boil 2 cups of water. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add millet, and sauté until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add another tablespoon butter and the boiling water to millet; return to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer, covered, 25 minutes. Transfer millet to a bowl to cool slightly; tent with foil to prevent from drying out. When cooled, stir in eggs, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and parsley.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare an ice-water bath. Add broccoli to boiling water, and blanch for 20 seconds, until bright green. Transfer to ice-water bath to cool. Drain, and set aside.
3. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add cabbage; cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, and curry; cook 2 minutes. Pour in 2 cups water, and using a wooden spoon, scrape up any brown bits on bottom of pan. Add carrots, potatoes, lentils, and chickpeas, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Stir in broccoli; season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Place the stew in a 1 1/2-quart ovenproof casserole; cover with millet mixture. Dot millet with remaining tablespoon butter; place on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Serve with raita. 

**I didn't end up making this. I was near the Alpine Sausage Kitchen and got tempted by the Viennese  hot dogs and german mustard. I steamed the rest of the broccoli and cauliflower.
 

Baked Millet and Sweet Potato Patties

I'm not sure where this recipe came from. It is from the Grain Dishes chapter... I haven't tried it before.

4 servings

The millet:
1 C uncooked millet
2 C vege stock
1/4 t salt

The patties:
1 large sweet potato (about 1 pound)
1/4 C minced fresh parsley leaves
2 T flour
2 T lime juice
1 T dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 t chili powder
1/2 t salt
2 t olive oil

Toast the millet in a heavy-bottomed pan over high heat, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes, or until the millet starts to pop. Immediately transfer the millet to a deep bowl and fill the bowl with cold water. Scrub the grains lightly between your palms for a few seconds, then pour into a fine-mesh strainer and rinse under running water for about 1 minute. Set aside to drain.

Bring the stock to a boil in a medium-size saucepan. Add the millet and 1/4 t of the salt and bring back to a simmer. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool, fluffing with a fork.

Peel the sweet potato and dice it. Place the pieces on a steamer rack in a saucepan that has a tight-fitting lid. Add about 2 inches of water, cover the pan, and steam over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes or  until the sweet potato is very soft.

Preheat the oven to 375. Place the sweet potato in a food processor, along with the cooled millet, parsley, flour, lime juice, oregano, garlic, chili powder and 1/2 t salt. Process to a thick, homogenous consistency. Lightly oil a baking sheet and our hands Form the millet mixture into 12 patties and place them on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the patties over, and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

 Toasting the millet...

** I used 1/2 of the chile powder. I only had 11 oz of sweet potato, so I added one new potato. Served with sauteed spinach with garlic. Patties were soft since they were baked, not fried. There were nice bits of crunch from the millet and a lovely sweet from the potatoes with a bit of a spicy background from the chile powder. The patties also had a nice tang from the lime. Keeper.