Millet Bake2

As we get closer to our cookery demo day with Oliver McCabe in Murphy’s Barn on Saturday May 7th we’re enthusiastically trying lots of recipes from his book. Both Ruth (full credit to her for these beautiful images of her creation!) and I cooked his Fuel Food Veggie Bake and were in agreement that it was hearty, comforting, wholefood at its best so it’s the recipe we want to share with you now. What can I say? If you don’t have the book it’s well worth the purchase (we have signed copies for €20) and if you’d like to take it a step further, meet Olly and hear about his unique food philosophy at first hand then put Saturday May 7th in your diary right now.

I was so impressed with the use of millet in this recipe and felt this powerhouse grain needed looking into more, want to know more on millet, just click here.

Serves 2
800ml water
2 low-salt, yeast-free, gluten-free vegetable stock cubes
200g brown lentils, washed and rinsed
200g millet, washed and rinsed
200g baby spinach
200g sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 tbsp. harissa paste
1 tsp. ground turmeric
2 tbsp. rapeseed oil
150g onions, diced
150g red peppers, diced
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 180oC/gas mark 4.
2.  Boil the water and add the vegetable stock cubes.  Stir to dissolve and leave to one side.
3.  To begin with, you need three saucepans.  In the first saucepan, cover the lentils with 400mls of the vegetable stock.  Simmer for 25 minutes, until the stock has been soaked up and the lentils have collapsed.  Add some more water and continue to cook for 10 minute more, until the lentils are cooked through.  Drain off any excess water in a colander or sieve and set aside.
4.  Another saucepan is for the millet.  Again, add 400ml of the vegetable stock and simmer for 15 minutes, until the stock has been soaked up by the millet.  Add some water and continue to cook for 5 minutes more, until the millet is fluffy.  Drain off any excess water in a colander or sieve and set aside.
5.  While the millet is cooking, use a sieve to steam about 50g of the baby spinach over the saucepan.  This will take 5 minutes.  Set aside.
6.  The last saucepan is for the sweet potatoes.  Cover them with hot water and simmer for about 20 minutes, until soft.  Drain and place the sweet potatoes back into the saucepan.  Mash with the harissa paste and turmeric until you have a thick puree.
7.  Now heat 1 tbsp. of the oil in a wok over a medium heat.  Add the onions, peppers, the rest of the baby spinach and the garlic.  Saute for 5 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.  Add a little water to the base of the wok if it looks too dry.  Remove from the heat once the vegetables are soft.
8.  Grab a medium-sized deep baking tray or dish and grease with the remaining tbsp. of oil.  Add the millet as your base, using a spatula or wooden spoon to flatten it.  Next add the vegetable mix on top of the millet, again flattening it.  (This is where you could add some meat or fish if you wanted to as the next layer.)  Add the lentils and flatten them, then top it off with the lightly spiced sweet potato mash.  As you do so, mix the steamed baby spinach on top and create your own design.
9.  Finally, pop the dish in the oven for 20 minutes, until the top is toasty.  Cut servings with a large knife and serve a spatula.  It’s beautiful with a salad of your choice.

Millet Bake 1

To see first hand some more recipes like this join with us and Oliver McCabe in Murphy’s Barn for a morning of wholefood cooking and lunch – to book online click here.