Millet is an ancient wholesome grain from the grass family growing on long soft textured stems. Different countries around the world are using millet in such interesting ways – as puffed millet snack slices in Japan, as sweetened porridge in Russian and as roti in India or simply added to winter soups and stews. It is also used in fermented drinks and foods and over the past few years the popularity of the grain has been growing, especially in gluten-free diets.   Rediscovering nourishing millet recipes is exciting and I love to cook with it as a nutritious alternative alternative to other grains. The raw seed millet is easily accessible in health food shops but make sure you buy the grain intended for human consumption, as the millet sold for pet food has the indigestible outer hull.

Eaten in moderation, millet gets the thumbs up for benefits of supporting a healthy heart, repairing body tissue and lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes due to its magnesium and phosphorus content.

Here are three of my favourite easy and delicious nourishing millet recipes for you to try.

Toasted millet and ginger poached pear bread with walnut and coconut granola

This little number is terrific served warm or at room temperature, on its own or with a dob of yoghurt.
Serving size: 12 Adults
Difficulty: Easy
Time:
☐ Prep: 30 minutes
☐ Cook: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
Poached pears:
• 1lt clear all natural apple juice
• 2 tbsps. minced ginger
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 Packham pears peeled, cored and cut into eighths

Loaf:
• 1 cup millet
• 1 egg
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 cup almond milk or cows milk
• ½ cup quark
• ½ cup organic panella sugar (or brown sugar or white sugar)
• ½ tsp. vanilla bean paste or 1 tsp. of essence
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup self-raising spelt flour
• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt

Walnut Granola:                                                                                                                                              
• 1 ½ cups walnuts broken up in your hands
• 3 tablespoons organic panella sugar
• 1/3 cup spelt oats
• ¼ cup coconut
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 100g organic melted butter

Recipe Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 170c fan forced. Line a loaf tin so that there is a 3cm high boarder above the top of the tin.
2. Combine the apple juice, ginger, cinnamon stick and the sliced pears in a pot making sure that the pears are covered and bring it to the boil. Turn off the heat and cover the pears, leaving them to cool in the liquid. Once cooled, drain the pears from the apple juice, chilling the apple juice down and using it for a refreshing drink, and set the pears aside.
3. Place the millet into a frypan and toast it over a moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and just beginning to pop, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove ¼ cup of the millet and set the rest aside to cool. In a bowl whisk together the egg, sour cream, milk, quark and the vanilla and in a separate bowl combine in the flours with the baking powder, bicarb soda and cinnamon. Add the poached pear slices to the flour mix then pour in the egg; milk and quark mix and gently fold through the ingredients until just combined.
4. For the walnut granola combine all the ingredients including the set aside millet into a bowl and mix to coat with the butter. Pour the batter into the tin and heavily top the loaf with the walnut granola.
5. Bake the loaf covered with foil for 40 minutes then remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Puffed Millet Chia and Honey Squares
I am always fossicking in my pantry and giving myself a Ready Steady Cook challenge. I will often pick random ingredients that I may not have used in a while and creating something with them, this time it was puffed millet! I picked this up in a health food store to mix in with my muesli and have had half a bag sitting on my shelves for a while. This is almost liked puffed wheat a cereal that as a young child I can remember always eating.
Makes 20 squares
Ingredients:
• 4 cups of Puffed millet
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 2 tblsp chia seeds (available from the supermarket in the health food isle)
• 50g of almond flakes (toast these in a pan over moderate heat until golden)
• 135g organic butter (you can also use coconut oil)
• 4 tblsp honey
• ½ cup natural brown sugar (rapadura sugar can be bought from the health food shop, or you can also use coconut sugar)
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 60g 70% dark chocolate
Steps:
1. Place the dried ingredients into a bowl together and stir. In a small saucepan combine the honey, butter, sugar and vanilla and bring to the boil, simmer for 3 minutes then pour this into the puffed millet, almonds and coconut. Line a 20cm x 30cm tine and with slightly wet hands press the mixture into the tin until evenly distributed.
2. Melt the chocolate and drizzle over the top. You can set this in the fridge but it will also set out of the fridge. Store in the fridge or in an airtight container.

Spiced Pumpkin, Millet and Quark Muffins

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 12 Adults
Ingredients:
• 270g pumpkin, peeled, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup millet
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup quark*
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon Za’atar spice*
• Good handful of spinach

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 180c. Place paper liners in a 12-cup muffin pan; set aside.
2. Place the diced pumpkin onto a tray and drizzle with the oil, season with salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and allow to cool.
3. Heat a large pan over medium high heat. Add millet and toast, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and just beginning to pop, 3 to 4 minutes. Set the millet aside to cool.
4. In a bowl whisk together the egg, sour cream, milk and the quark and in a separate bowl, then add in the flours with the baking powder, bicarb soda and the spices. Toss the pumpkin into the flour along with the chopped spinach and the millet and toss together covering the pumpkin with the flour.
5. Gently fold the egg mixture into the flour until just combined. Spoon batter into the muffin tins and bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the muffins comes out clean or they spring back when pressed, about 20 minutes. Allow muffins to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack or serve warm with your favourite relish.

Other: Makes 1 dozen muffins that are suitable for freezing.

The Grain family includes oats, wheat, bread, pasta, whole-wheat biscuits, rice, barley, corn,polenta, buckwheat, spelt, millet, sorghum, triticale, rye, quinoa and semolina.

Bread is a great source of carbohydrate giving you energy and it is best eaten for breakfast and lunch. The best breads to choose are wholemeal, wholegrain, rye, pita, lavosh, crisp breads, English muffin, crumpet, rice cakes, seeded breads, sprouted breads, sour dough, organic whole grain breads. Always read the label of ingredients and buy the bread with all natural ingredients.

The recommended amount is 4-6 serves a day.

1 serve is:
1 slice (40g) bread
½ medium (40g) roll or flat bread
3 (35g) crisp breads
1 (60g) crumpet
1 small (35g) English muffin or scone

The nutrients provided by whole grain breads and natural grains include carbohydrates/starch which gets converted to energy, protein, fibre and a wide range of vitamins and minerals which can reduce the risk of developing certain diseases including coronary heart disease, diabetes and can also assist in the maintenance of the digestive system preventing colon cancer.

High fibre foods, such as wholegrain breads and cereals, can also be an effective part of any weight loss program as they take longer to digest and create a feeling of fullness, which discourages overeating.

Spinach, tomato and herb ricotta toasts
Serves 2
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time: 3 minutes

Ingredients:
200g cherry tomatoes
2 tsps. virgin olive oil
2 tsps. balsamic vinegar
Cracked pepper and salt
½ cup ricotta cheese ( from the deli)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Cracked pepper and salt
1 tsp. lemon zest
4 sliced of whole grain bread
2 cups spinach leaves

Recipe Steps:

1. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and toss with the olive oil, balsamic and salt and pepper.
2. In a bowl smash the ricotta with the chopped herbs and the lemon zest.
3. Toast the bread and spread on the ricotta cheese, top with the spinach and then the tomatoes. Serve.

Bread plus – other ideas

• Cinnamon: Honey (1 tablespoon) and good sprinkle of cinnamon with ricotta Substitute the tomatoes and the spinach with 1 sliced apple or 1 sliced pear, fresh or grilled giving ½ a piece of fruit per person.
• Bananas: Spray a hot non-stick frypan with oil and cook 1 sliced banana for 1 minute until golden, set aside, cook 6 trimmed rashes of bacon and whisk 1 egg with ¼ cup of milk. Dip 2 pieces of bread into the mix until coated with egg mixture and cook the bread in the same pan for 1 minute on each side until golden and serve with the banana and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup – serves 2.
• Berries: ½ cup of berries – fresh or frozen cooked with 1 tablespoon of maple syrup
  Avocado and cherry tomatoes: Top two slices of toast each with 1 ½ tablespoons of ricotta or cottage cheese, ¼ a diced avocado, 5 cherry tomatoes, cut in half and chopped chives, season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon.
• Sicilian style – brioche buns with granita.