Tuesday eats: millet

Millet is great. Have you eaten millet? It’s a super grain.
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It’s kind of like quinoa (high in protein, gluten-free, substitute for rice/couscous/flour), but is crunchier and is also:

* high in silica, which is great for bones

* soothing, especially for indigestion or morning sickness

* anti-fungal; helps ease Candida symptoms

* improves breath

This week I invited Melbourne acupuncturist and fertility specialist Natalie Kringoudis (visit her blog and her site The Pagoda Tree for her details) to share her love of the stuff. And a recipe.

But before I hand things over to her: a cheat sheet for you:
* Uses Millet can be used in porridges, cereal, soups and dense breads. It’s a great wheat-free substitution for couscous, as it has a similar consistency.

* Storing Look for yellow colored, raw millet in health food stores. Store in an airtight jar or glass container for 6-9 months.

* Preparation Rinse millet before cooking, and use one part millet to two parts liquid.

* Basic Millet
Prep Time: 2 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes Serves 4

Rinse 1 cup of millet in a grain strainer.  Place in 2 cups of water with a pinch of salt in  a pot with a tight fitting lid. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low.   Simmer 30 minutes.
More water may be added to make the millet a softer consistency.

*** I toast my millet  lightly  before cooking to give it a nutty flavor. No oil, just in a dry pan.

***An update. The generous reader “millet head” gave me this helpful advice regarding my issue with millet being a touch too crunchy (I boil the crap out of it and 45 min later it’s still snappy-of-mouth):

White French millets are impossibly resistant to softening, Isprout them instead.
If you are using the yellow millets, rinse, then soak in cold water overnight – and leave on your counter top with a gauze or muslin to keep any bugs out etc. Discard soaking water and cook with fresh water as usual. I like to add butter or ghee and sea salt once mushy ( consistency kinda like polenta).

Over to Nat:

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Millet makes you fertile.

At my clinic, I specialise in fertility.

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