If you are saying “miso” in need of a desk lunch upgrade then I have just the recipe for you: this healthy and easy Toasted Millet Salad with Lemon Miso Dressing.
This versatile salad is made with toasted millet, curry powder, colorful vitamin-packed veggies, peppery watercress, avocado for creaminess, sunflower seeds for crunch, and a sweet n’ spicy lemon-miso dressing.
Watercress, millet and watermelon radish
What is millet?
Millet is a naturally gluten-free, nutty tasting whole grain. What makes a grain a whole grain, you ask? When it contains all three layers of the grain: germ, endosperm and bran (the outer skin).
When cooked properly, millet yields a fluffy pan of goodness that takes on the flavor of whatever spices or other ingredients are added. It has a taste, size and texture of cous cous.
The final dish with miso dressing and sunflower seeds
Other gluten-free grains you can sub in this recipe if you are not a fan of millet include quinoa (my #1 choice!), basmati or brown rice, or fonio.
If you are’t gluten-averse, bulgur, barley, wheat berries or spelt berries, cous cous or freekeh would be awesome in this dish.
The final dish
For the miso dressing, you can use traditional mellow white miso. But, for allergy-friendly or soy-free, sub chickpea miso.
Lemon brightens the flavor of the sauce, while honey balances out the acidity of the lemon. And I personally like a hefty pinch of crushed red pepper in my dressings. And just about anything else I put on my plate.
Taste the sauce before adding salt and pepper, if any at all, as miso is salty to begin with.
Yummy…. that was delish!
Are you a fan of millet? Leave a comment and let me know. And if you like this recipe check out this Crunchy Asian Slaw.
And follow me on Instagram find more delish recipes like this!
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- 1/2 cup millet
- 1/4 tsp curry powder or sub turmeric
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 large carrot coarsely grated
- 1 mediuem cucumber chopped
- 2 tbsp toasted sunflower seeds
- 2 cups watercress or sub mesclun
- 2 tbsp mellow white miso or sub chickpea miso for soy-free
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon or orange juice
- 1 tsp honey or sub maple for vegan
- 1 dash crushed red pepper
Ingredients
Salad ingredients
Dressing ingredients
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- in a dry saucepan over medium heat toast millet until nutty and golden, shaking pan a few times, about 3-4 minutes (be careful not to burn!)
- add 1 cup filtered water, curry and salt, cover and simmer until grains are tender, about 15-17 minutes
- remove millet from heat and let steam covered for 10 minutes, fluff with a fork, then cool slightly
- meanwhile, make dressing by whisking all ingredients in a small bowl, adding filtered water to thin to a drizzling consistency (about 3-4 tablespoons); taste dressing, then add salt & pepper if needed
- mix cooked millet with carrot, cucumber, avocado and sunflower seeds and a little of the dressing
- to serve, plate cress or mesclun, drizzle with some of the miso dressing, then top with millet mixture
- serves two as a main, four as a side
- can sub most grains for millet if preferred ~ basmati or brown rice, quinoa, fonio, barley, freekeh, wheat berries, etc. (you will just need to cook any of those according to package directions)
- can add other vegetables such as red onion or scallion, red bell peppers, roasted golden beets
- for extra crunch and protein you can add pumpkin seeds, chia or hemp seeds, almonds
- to increase the protein edamame, black lentils or curry-roasted chickpeas would go well
Original recipe created by Jerran Boyer
www.healthnutchefs.com