Quick and Easy Lunch with Millets and Veggies

This light, filling and nutritious meal comes together quickly and easily. I didn’t measure anything, but it’s a pretty adaptable recipe and you can play around with the quantities. I used the vegetables I had and you can do the same. I would’ve liked to throw in some cooked beans, like chickpeas, but didn’t have any on hand. I’m sure other herbs, like oregano and thyme, would taste great too. This dish can be made milder or more strongly flavoured by using less or more herbs.

You need:

• Foxtail millet (You can use another small millet, such as finger millet, or grain alternatives like amaranth. You could, of course, use rice.)
• Vegetable broth (I used homemade, which I keep unseasoned and unsalted.)
• Dried sage
• Dried marjoram
• Dried rosemary
• Black pepper (I used a combination of pre-packaged powder and fresh ground.)
• Garlic, chopped finely (Use lots for a more garlicky taste.)
• Broccoli florets
• Cabbage, chopped (You can use green or red, or both.)
• Pineapple chunks
• Spring onions, chopped
• Salt
• Olive oil

Rinse the millets, and cook them with vegetable broth, sage, marjoram and rosemary, a dash of salt, and water as needed, until soft but not mushy. I did this in the microwave oven.

While the millets are cooking, heat a large frying pan or wok (I used a kadhai) and pour a teeny bit of olive oil in to it. When the oil is hot, add chopped garlic and let it cook on low heat for a minute. Now turn up the heat and add broccoli florets. From this point on, be sure to toss frequently to avoid burning and to cook the vegetables evenly. Cook the broccoli for about 2-3 minutes, then add cabbage and pepper. Stir-fry till a few of the cabbage bits start to look brown and crunchy, then add pineapple chunks. I added fresh ground pepper too. After about 2 minutes, add the white bits of the spring onions, and after another minute, add the green bits. Don’t forget to keep tossing/ stirring the whole time! Mix in the green bits of the spring onions quickly, add salt and mix in. Right away, add the cooked millets – I used a fork to get them from their cooking pot to the kadhai to minimise lumps. Toss well for about a minute, then turn off heat.

If you use a small grain or grain alternative, your meal will be ready in about 20 minutes, and that includes preparation and cooking time!

Lemongrass Ginger Noodle Soup

A hot pot of soup on a hot sunny day. Yes, I’m weird. This soup, though? Not weird at all.

Get together:

• Broccoli – 1 small, cut into small florets
• Sweet corn – 100 gms
• Spinach, chopped – 150 gms
• Tofu, firm, cubed – 100 gms
• Rice noodles/ vermicelli, dry – 50 gms
• Lemongrass, dried – 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp (Double if using fresh – I haven’t tried.)
• Ginger, finely diced/ minced – 2/3 tsp, or more to taste
• Black pepper – 1/3 tsp or to taste
• Salt – to taste

While you prep the vegetables and tofu, bring a cup of water to a gentle boil, turn off heat and steep lemongrass in it for about 10 minutes. Strain and reserve the infusion, but don’t throw away the leaves yet. Repeat to get another round of infusion from the same leaves.

To a heated pot, add the ginger and stir. If it sticks, throw in a tiny splash of water and stir for a minute. Pour in the lemongrass infusion, add tofu cubes and sweet corn and bring to a gentle boil. Turn down heat. Grab a bunch of rice noodles and stick them in the pot, pressing down and mixing them in as they soften. This will take a couple minutes. Cover and let simmer gently. After 3 to 4 minutes, add broccoli, and continue to simmer for 2 more minutes.

Mix in chopped spinach, pepper and salt. Cover and simmer till spinach wilts. Turn off heat and let soup sit for about 5 minutes before eating.

I’ve tried several variations of this – replacing ginger with garlic, substituting baby corm for sweet corn, adding mushrooms, omitting tofu – and I like this one the best.