Chill It with Millet

Due to being in a 3-hour class tonight (don't worry, it's just a weekly film class) I couldn't be home for dinner. Thankfully I have a huge gap between classes and was able to get an awesome arm/shoulder work out in and prepare dinner ahead of time. I wanted something light and refreshing since it's so warm today and also something that I could easily put together and bring to class. So, after some brainstorming I threw together some ingredients and created an easy, healthy chilled salad.


Chilled millet salad with edamame, hericot vert and hazelnuts
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup millet, dry toasted
- 1/2 cup water

- 1/2 cup shelled edamame
- 1/2 cup organic frozen corn
- 1 1/2 cups hericot vert (Trader Joe's frozen brand)
- 1 tbsp lightly toasted and chopped hazelnuts, for garnish

Dressing
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1/2-1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/4 tsp lemon herb seasoning blend (optional)
- Pinch o' red pepper flake
- S&P, to taste


Instructions
- In a medium pot, bring millet and water to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until water is absorbed. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat frozen vegetables through either in the microwave or stove-top (whatever you prefer or the bag recommends). I just boiled mine in a pot for around 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Combine dressing ingredients and whisk until emulsified. Add millet and vegetables and toss to combine. Chill in the fridge at least 2 hours. Just before serving, garnish with chopped hazelnuts and a pinch of pink sea salt (I'm obsessed with its crunch!)

Serves 2




Despite the fact that some of the ingredients don't seem like they'd go together (Edamame and hazelnuts? What?) everything worked really well. Edamame is almost always added to Asian dishes, but the truth is that they are more versatile than that. Their creaminess and nuttiness was enhanced by the hazelnuts and the dressing was basic but perfect.


See how simple that is? It literally takes minutes to throw together; the most labor intensive part is waiting for the millet to cook. The best part is that it both sounds and looks "fancy" without including any fancy ingredients or long cooking time. This would also be great with quinoa or barley, but I love millet and wanted to switch it up. It was the perfect meal to eat while sitting in class on an unseasonably warm day.