{"id":36,"date":"2013-01-10T14:08:37","date_gmt":"2013-01-10T14:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/noveldelights.withimagination.org\/wp\/?p=36"},"modified":"2013-02-03T17:41:30","modified_gmt":"2013-02-03T17:41:30","slug":"millet-and-chickpea-pilaf-with-saffron-and-tomatoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/noveldelights.withimagination.org\/wp\/2013\/01\/millet-and-chickpea-pilaf-with-saffron-and-tomatoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Millet and Chickpea Pilaf with Saffron and Tomatoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of my new year’s resolutions was to do more pantry cooking. I have a well-stocked pantry. If it is possible, I probably have a\u00a0too<\/em> well-stocked pantry. I try to keep it reasonably organized, so there isn’t an awful lot of duplication in my stores, but let’s just say that if there was an emergency and we had to live off of the food already in our house for a week or two, there’d be no problem.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, to make a start towards my resolution, and because I had a hankering for a roasted beet quinoa salad I made during vacation, I decided to check out my quinoa recipes. Unfortunately, all of the quinoa dishes in the Orange Book required ingredients I didn’t have on hand. But the page just before quinoa was millet and I\u00a0did<\/em> have everything required for this recipe!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>

My pantry: too well stocked?<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

So although we’d already eaten dinner, I proceeded to make it for lunch. So this was a double-first: the first dish that meets the resolution requirements and the first time I’ve cooked specifically for a packed lunch.<\/p>\n

\"Cook<\/a>

Cook for 35 minutes and: done!<\/p><\/div>\n

And it was good. I actually haven’t met a savory recipe from the Orange Book that wasn’t good yet. But this one had the added bonus of smelling delicious as it emerged from the faculty lounge microwave, enticing my colleagues to comment on the dish. It had nice contrasting textures: a bit crunchy from the millet, a bit chewy from the chickpeas, a bit acidic from the tomatoes… A great lunch.<\/p>\n

Millet and Chickpea Pilaf with Saffron and Tomatoes<\/strong><\/p>\n

From Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone<\/strong><\/em>
\nYield: 4 – 6 servings<\/p>\n

Ingredients:<\/em>
\n2 1\/2 tablespoons olive oil
\n1 cup millet, rinsed
\n1\/2 onion, finely diced
\n1\/2 teaspoon dried basil
\nPinch saffron threads
\n1 1\/2 cups cooked or 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
\n11\/2 cups diced tomatoes, fresh or canned
\n1 teaspoon sweet paprika
\nSalt and freshly milled pepper
\n2 1\/2 cups boiling water or a mixture of water and tomato juice
\n2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
\n3 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Gruyere, optional<\/p>\n

Directions:<\/em>
\nHeat 1 1\/2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy 10-inch skillet, add the millet, and cook over medium heat until the grains begin to color, 4-5 minutes. Scrape the millet into a bowl, return the pan to the heat, and add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil along with the onion, basil, and saffron. Cook over medium-high heat until the onion begins to color, 5 to 7 minutes.<\/p>\n

Reduce the heat to low and add the millet, chickpeas, tomatoes, and paprika. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and add the boiling water. Cover and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the millet is done, about 35 minutes. If it’s still a little raw, add 1\/4 cup of water and continue cooking. Gently break up the grains with a fork. Taste for salt, season with pepper, then stir Ian’s the parsley and cheese.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/em>
\nSince millet doesn’t separate into distinct grains when cooked, I always enjoy it more when it’s mixed with foods of contrasting textures, such as chickpeas. Serve this with lots of garlicky braised chard or spinach. Leftovers are delicious browned in olive oil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my new year’s resolutions was to do more pantry cooking. I have a well-stocked pantry. If it is possible, I probably have a\u00a0too well-stocked pantry. I try to keep it reasonably organized, so there isn’t an awful lot … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[15,17,14],"class_list":["post-36","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vegetarian-cooking-for-everyone","tag-chickpeas","tag-cooking-2","tag-millet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/noveldelights.withimagination.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/noveldelights.withimagination.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/noveldelights.withimagination.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/noveldelights.withimagination.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/noveldelights.withimagination.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/noveldelights.withimagination.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91,"href":"http:\/\/noveldelights.withimagination.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions\/91"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/noveldelights.withimagination.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/noveldelights.withimagination.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/noveldelights.withimagination.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}