Millet Pilaff- vegan, gluten free

We served this topped with grilled asparagus and almond "Parmesan" .(Apologies for the rather rubbish photo- I was in too much of a hurry!)

It's great how not having one of your staple ingredients to hand makes you more inventive, isn't it? We are, at the moment, between wholefood orders and have run out of brown rice, so when I was racking my brains to come up with a grain for last Saturday's dinner I got really excited (sad but true) when I found some wholegrain millet in the back of the cupboard! At first I thought to make something with an African vibe, but then I realised I was also out of peanuts so I went for something Middle Eastern/ Mediterranean-ish instead- a pilaff. Where barley would probably be used (most of my family doesn't like it), I just substituted the millet. In this recipe, 1 cup = 250ml, and the amounts given here serve at least 6 people.

1 1/2 cups whole millet, washed, in 3 cups of water
1 large bell pepper
2 cups any other veg (you can use sweetcorn, white cabbage etc.)
1 cup cooked yellow chickpeas
1 tab dark soy sauce
1 tab paprika
1 tab smoked paprika
1 tsp turmeric (haldi)
1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
1/2 tspm compound hing
1 tab olive oil
1 tsp salt

• Add the olive oil and salt to the millet, and cook it pretty much how you would cook brown rice. It takes about the same amount of time (20-30 mins) but comes out more chewy; it's a really interesting texture, in fact.
• When the millet is about half- cooked, throw in the veggies, the chickpeas and the other seasonings and simmer with the lid on until the vegetables and millet are cooked and the liquid is absorbed.
• Serve as is, or dressed up with almond parmesan, fresh herbs, grilled asparagus etc. on top.