How to Cook Millet Rice Cooker

By SpartyGreenMom

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked millet
• 3 cups water or organic vegetable broth (such as Pacific Natural Foods)
• Pinch of unrefined sea salt

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from cleancuisineandmore.com

Preparation

Step 1

Millet swells tremendously when cooked and makes a great alternative to oatmeal for breakfast. It is particularly delicious with almond milk, chopped baked apple, cinnamon and a drizzle of raw honey.  Millet is also a fabulous whole grain for fall because it combines particularly well with sweet winter squash and root vegetables. For variety, I often substitute millet for a number of different basic rice dishes (for example, instead of making a pilaf with rice I’ll use millet instead.) In the Caribbean, millet is served with peas and beans but I especially like the combination of millet, chopped parsley, julienned sundried tomatoes packed in extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and black beans. Yum!!

One of the reasons I like including millet so much in my own diet is because it’s a great alternative to ubiquitous wheat. Assuming you don’t have gluten intolerance or wheat sensitivity there is nothing intrinsically wrong with wheat other than the fact that it’s eaten SO SO much. Millet is a great nutritious whole grain wheat alternative.

You basically cook millet the same way you cook rice, which makes it a quick-cook whole grain perfect for easy weeknight dinners. You can cook millet stovetop or in a rice cooker. I cook pretty much all of my whole grains in a rice cooker (with the exception of oatmeal) because it’s just so incredibly easy and hassle-free. But, below are the directions for how to cook millet two ways, stovetop or in a rice cooker. By the way, whenever I make any whole grain I cook a big huge batch and store it in a covered container in the fridge for at least 3 days. After cooking millet I eat it tons of different ways…added to soups, for a hot breakfast in the morning, sprinkled on salads, as a pilaf, etc. Here’s how to quickly cook  millet:

Rinse millet with cool water in a strainer. Put water or broth into the rice cooker. Pour millet into the rice cooker and add a pinch of salt. Turn the rice cooker on and cook for about 20-25 minutes.

As mentioned earlier, pan-roasting enhances the nuttiness of millet. To pan roast millet place the grains in a heavy skillet (such as cast iron) over low heat and add the millet. Stir continuously until millet becomes fragrant and starts to brown (about 3 minutes).