Mediterranean arugula salad with millet, sundried tomatoes, yellow bell pepper and shaved almonds
Mediterranean meal salad with a surprising ingredient: millet. Deliciously sweet and round grain with a slightly nutty flavor and a firm bite. Looks like couscous but is glutenfree! Arugula, sundried tomato, yellow pepper, carrot and roasted shaved almonds make this salad into a summer party in a bowl. The dressing is simple: orange juice, raw honey and extra virgin olive oil. If want to keep the salad fatfree you can use some extra honey and orange juice. If you want to keep the salad vegan you can replace the honey with maple syrup.
Ingredients
- Millet – Glutenfree pseudograin. Looks a bit like couscous.
- Arugula – Can be replaced by other leafy greens (baby spinach, watercress) or lettuce.
- Dried tomatoes – In oil or fatfree. Preferably unsalted.
- Bell pepper – I used yellow, but you can use red as well. Don’t use green.
- Carrot
- Almonds – Slivered/ shaved and roasted.
- Orange juice
- Extra virgin olive oil – Can be replaced with extra orange juice.
- Honey – Can be replaced by maple syrup for vegan.
Millet
Millet is the glutenfree seed of a grassy plant (Panicum milaceum). It looks a bit like couscous: it is light yellow and round. But is not made of dough, it’s a whole grain. And it’s actually not even a ‘real’ grain. Millet is a pseudograin that resembles quinoa and amaranth. It’s use is very versatile. You can choose to cook it briefly to keep the millet firm: somewhere between rice and nuts or seeds. And if you cook it longer, you can make it very soft, like porridge. It has a soft and slightly nutty taste.
Honey
Be sure to use raw honey that has no added sugar. Honey contains healthy enzymes from the bees. Those enzymes will be destroyed if honey is heated over 100F (40C). Preferable from a local beekeeper.
Other summer salads with glutenfree grains
FAQ
Millet is often considered a grain, but it is actually a pseudograin. As all pseudograins, millet is glutenfree. In this recipe you use the whole grain. The grains are light yellow and they look a bit like couscous.
Yes, but replace the honey with maple syrup.
All pseudograins are glutenfree and can be eaten as filler foods within the Medical Medium lifestyle. Millet is actually way on top of the preferred grains (with oats, while other grains are a bit behind). You can even have millet on the first 3 days of a 369 original. But not the salad because almonds contain fat.
Since millet is a pseudograin it is not paleo and therefor not suited for AIP either. If you want to venture out a bit, millet is a great option to start with.
Arugula salad with millet, sundried tomatoes, yellow bell pepper and shaved almonds
This recipe may contain
affiliate linksEquipment
- small cooking pan with lid
- ceramic non-stick pan
- or small cast iron skillet
- grater
Ingredients
- ½ cup millet
- 1 cup water
- 2 large handfuls arugula
- 8 dried tomatoes
- ½ yellow bell pepper
- 1 carrot
- 2 handsful slivered/ shaved almonds
- 2 tbsp orange juice
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp raw honey
- or maple syrup for vegan
For free of oils
- 2 tbsp orange juice extra, instead of extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Place the millet and water in a saucepan. You use twice as much water as millet (measured by volume).
- Cook for 5 minutes with the lid on. Remove the lid from the pan after cooking. This allows the millet to cool down. But let it sit in the pan for a while. The millet is still absorbing moisture.
- Roast the almonds in the ceramic pan or cast iron skillet. Let this cool as well.
- Mix 1 tablespoon (each) of honey (or maple syrup), olive oil and orange juice through the millet. You can do that in the saucepan. If you eat fatfree use extra orange juice.
- Grate the carrot. Cut the pepper and tomato into pieces. Mix everything with the millet.
- Finally, mix in the arugula. Divide between two plates. Pour an extra dash of olive oil and (or just) orange juice over both.
- Top with the almonds.
Did you make this salad or do you have any questions? Just leave a comment!