Mexican Topped Millet

Those of you that know me will not be surprised to hear I had to listen to all the lectures for course two of the e-Cornell certification today. I just can’t help myself. Apparently my type-A personality traits run very deep. I got a slow start this morning because I wasn’t able to focus. However once I got a little exercise I was able to get through the lectures. Needless to say this meant that I didn’t start dinner until Dan was on his way home from work. Thankfully it takes him about 20 minutes from door to door. On those days when I am short on time I rely on millet or quinoa since they cook quickly. Here is what I made tonight:

Mexican Topped Millet
Serves 4

Millet Ingredients:

1 ½ cups millet
2 cups water
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Salt, as desired (I didn’t use any)

Topping Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced (allow to stand 10 minutes before heating so allicin can develop)
¼ cup water to sauté the aromatics
10 ounces Rotel tomatoes
1 ½ cups white beans, cooked without salt and drained
10 black olives, pitted and chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano, dried
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 pinch red pepper flakes
8 spears fresh asparagus, woody ends removed then thinly sliced
6 cups raw baby spinach, roughly cut
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:

Combine the ingredients for the millet in a heavy saucepan with a lid and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.

To make the sauce water sauté the onions and garlic until soft. Add the remaining ingredients except the asparagus, spinach and onions and cook over low heat will the millet is cooking. When the millet is done turn the heat off on the sauce and add the remaining ingredients and stir them into the sauce.

To serve top the millet with the sauce.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 473
Calories From Fat (13%) - 59.51

Total Fat - 6.67g
Saturated Fat - 0.76g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 490.33mg
Potassium - 969.57mg
Total Carbohydrates - 83.1g
Fiber - 16.38g
Sugar - 2.52g
Protein - 17.73g

Comments:

You may be asking why I added nutrition yeast and vinegar to the millet. I was trying to add a little background flavor without sodium. It did add some flavor but next time I will include an extra tablespoon of vinegar.

This is another dish that came together quickly because I keep cooked beans in the refrigerator and freezer. If you haven’t tried that “trick” yet I highly recommend it. It comes in very handy for me.

I think Heather and her love of Mexican food is rubbing off on me. I don’t normally make Mexican twice a week for dinner. However this was good and a nice change from the Italian, Asian or Middle Eastern food I normally make.

I added the spinach, asparagus and green onions at the very end of cooking so that they would retain as much nutrition as possible. Olive provided the fat so that we were able to absorb the fat soluble vitamins as well as adding salt.

Each serving of this contains approximately 5,100IU of vitamin A, 25mg of vitamin C, 155mg of calcium, 7mg of iron, 280mcg of folate, 250mcg of vitamin K, 400mg of phosphorus, and 190mg of magnesium. The stats for this are similar to most of my meals, which is a good thing.

To go with this we had a glass of fresh veggie and fruit juice like normal.

Unrelated note:

The second course in the e-Cornell program is much better than the first one. I was happy to hear new information presented by individuals that have not read before. I was also happy that the lectures were going into more detail. If anyone has any questions about course two feel free to send me an email or post a comment.

It will be nice to have things get back to normal tomorrow (no running around or school). I am considering spending half the day in the kitchen. Cooking is my therapy and I feel like I can use a little right now. Unless something comes up to ruin my plans you can expect to see a few recipes tomorrow. I have no idea what that means yet but there may be a new seitan sausage. I haven’t made a new one in while so that could be fun.

For now I am going to go and take care of a few things before it is time to turn in. I hope you all had a great day. I will chat with you tomorrow.