introducing... magnificent millet!

For the last year, quinoa and kale have been the cool kids on the block- in my kitchen and on my favorite food blogs. For dinner last night I wanted to flip the script... so, here is the debut of lemon-scented millet and broccoli rabe! Millet is a source of magnesium, manganese, iron, and protein (Livestrong), and broccoli rabe is a lovely leafy green vegetable that sounds and looks pretty fancy. The flavor of broccoli rabe is like a melange of kale, broccoli, and asparagus. I like to think of broccoli rabe as the socialite Alva Vanderbilt of leafy greens- it's a little snobby, but it will surprise you by partying with humble grains like millet, or, you know, establishing the first suffrage settlement house (dark greens are amazing!). Don't get me started on the CZ Guest of leafy greens- arugula.

I cooked the millet in my rice cooker... it has been a miracle appliance for me (thanks, Amber). When I cook quinoa and wheat berries the rice cooker, I never burn it and it never overflows. Like my GPS 'Eglantine', the rice cooker knows best. The millet turned out perfectly fluffy,with a texture that I like better than rice.


So, remember this sauce? I drizzled it over the vegetables and millet, also used it as salad dressing the next day.

Pan-Seared Vegetables on Lemon-Scented Millet with Tahini Sauce

.5 c millet
1.5 c water
1 head of cauliflower broken into small florets
1 c chopped mushrooms
.5 bunch of broccoli rabe (about 5 stalks, trimmed like asparagus)
.5 sliced red onion
.5 sliced yellow bell pepper
1 crushed clove garlic
drizzle of olive oil
.5 a lemon
pinch of red pepper flake
salt

Tahini Sauce

Start the millet and water in a rice cooker or pot. Nestle a clove of crushed garlic in the millet and water. When finished, remove the clove, and fluff the millet with some grated lemon zest and salt. While this is cooking, get ready to sear the mushrooms.

Pause! This is important. :) Cook the mushrooms first. Starting with a drizzle of olive oil, give them plenty of room to brown in the pan. When they smell all mushroom-y (3-4 min on medium high heat), flip them, and let the other side brown. When both sides are brown, put them in the serving dish (or in my case, tupperware). Sprinkle them with salt, and let them chill. (I think mushrooms are magical little golden nuggets of flavor, but they are a little high maintenance if you want to make the most of them. It's worth it!)


Next, sear the rest of the vegetables with salt, red pepper flake, and a squeeze of lemon, and arrange over the fluffed  millet. Drizzle generously with tahini sauce, and commence feeling RICHER. I ate this meal while watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Reunion, and I felt almost as sophisticated as my beloved Lisa Vanderpump.