Especially after the abysmal disaster that was the black bean brownies from Deliciously Ella Every Day, I've been a little hesitant to try anything described as a healthier version of comfort food. I feel like you might as well eat less of the delicious real thing, instead of eating a plateful of an awful-tasting imitation. So it was with some trepidation that I approached Amy Chaplin's millet-cauliflower mash. I was prepared for the mash to be awful, or at least nowhere close to mashed potatoes. Instead, this was actually quite good and tasted shockingly similar to creamy mashed potatoes. Of course, the first thing I wanted to do was add cheese, but this mash was pretty good with a drizzle of tamari or sriracha sauce instead.
Soaking the millet for 12-24 hours does play an important role, so you do need to plan ahead a little, but otherwise this millet-cauliflower mash is super simple and comes together very quickly. Make sure you cut your cauliflower into even, smallish florets, so the florets all cook through properly. Once you've rinsed your pre-soaked millet, simply add it to a big soup pot together with the cauliflower, water, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cook for 20-25 minutes. Then it's simply a matter of mashing the millet and cauliflower, letting the mash stand a couple minutes, and serving. In fact, I don't own any sort of masher or ricer, so I just mashed it all up against the side of the pot with a big wooden spoon. Perhaps my millet-cauliflower mash was a little chunkier than Amy intended, but it still tasted great. It also goes very well with the greens on the same page of At Home in the Whole Foods Kitchen.
Ingredients
- 1 cup millet washed and soaked for 12-24 hours in 3 cups water
- 1 medium cauliflower (2 ¼ pounds) cut into florets
- 2 ½ cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Optional for serving (to taste):
- tamari, sliced scallions, wasabi and cold-pressed flax oil
- butter, horseradish, and roasted garlic
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the millet, place in a pot and add the water, cauliflower, and salt.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 25 minutes or until millet is soft and fluffy and all the liquid is absorbed (check after 20 minutes).
- Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
- Mash until creamy with a ricer, potato masher, food mill, or blender. Alternatively, just mash with a big wooden spoon (which is what I did) - it won't be as creamy, but it will still be good.
- Return to pot and cover another 5 minutes before serving.
- Serve in bowls with your preferred toppings: A) a drizzle of flax seed oil and tamari, then top with scallions or B) a pat of butter, a generous dollop of horseradish, and a clove or three of roasted garlic.
- This dish will harden as it cools. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days and revive it by reheating in a steamer basket, or in the microwave with a glass of water in there as well.
