Millet with Saffron and Walnuts

• Makes 4 to 6 servings
• Ingredients:
  • 1 cup (200 g) millet
  • ½ teaspoon saffron threads, crushed using a mortar and pestle
  • 2 fresh bay leaves or dried imported bay leaves
  • 1 6-inch-long rosemary branch
  • 1 large bunch of chives
  • ½ cup (5 g) cilantro leaves
  • ½ cup (50 g) walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
  • Fine sea salt
  • ½ cup (125 ml) yogurt

• Instructions:
  1. In a large skillet over high heat, toast the millet until it begins to pop, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the millet to a medium saucepan. Add 2½ cups (625 ml) water, the saffron, bay leaves, and rosemary, and bring to a boil, covered. Decrease the heat to medium-low and cook, covered, until the liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
  2. Mince the chives and the cilantro.
  3. Place the millet in a medium bowl and fluff it with a fork. Stir in the cilantro, chives, and walnuts. Season with salt to taste, remove the bay leaves and rosemary branch, and serve, with the yogurt alongside.

Additional information:

• Millet, an ancient, toothsome grain, was considered sacred in China as far back as 4000 B.C., where it was eaten and fermented into wine. In India, millet was used to make flat-bread thousands of years ago, and millet grew with pistachios and other plants in the hanging gardens of Babylon. There are many varieties of millet—supposedly even crab-grass is a relative, and teff, the grain used to make the fluffy Ethiopian bread called injera, is another variety.
• Millet has a delicate flavor, making it a perfect backdrop for spices, herbs, and walnuts, as here. This is ideal as a vegetarian main course, or it can be served alongside steamed or grilled meat or fish. Take it along on a picnic, too, for a tasty change. This is lovely with a lightly chilled Beaujolais.

Note: Toasting the millet brings out its flavor. A plus to this tiny grain is that it contains no gluten and can be substituted in any recipe calling for rice.