Millet Salad with Green Beans and Za’atar

This Millet Salad features Za’atar which is a flavourful Middle Eastern spice blend that adds a beautiful aroma to this ancient seed along with the green beans just superb with the lime and coconut oil.

This millet salad was a last-minute vegan addition for a girly lunch as a Vegan friend decided to join us at the last minute. 

I had a quick look in my pantry and saw millet leftover from a recent gift basket. I knew I had some fresh green beans in the fridge (from a friend's garden).

I always keep Za’atar on hand to liven things up and with an abundance of fresh thyme growing in the garden this aromatic salad was brought to life. 

The only thing left to do was to figure out how to cook the millet!

Recipe Substitutions

• Use any beans that take your fancy - green beans, snake beans, flat beans even snow peas or sugar snap peas will be good. For peas sauté instead of roasting them in the oven, they are tastier this way and will cook faster.
• Don’t have Za’atar then just add some extra thyme and sesame seeds instead.
• Use any grain that you have to hand bulgur, quinoa and freekeh will also be great in this salad, just cook each grain as necessary. 

How to Cook the Millet

• Heat a medium saucepan (medium-high heat) add your millet and toast until golden (approximately 2-3 minutes. Stir it continuously so that it toasts evenly, you will hear the millet crackling (this is a sign of freshness).
• Add 2 cups of water to your millet, stir it and allow it to come to a rolling boil ^*. Turn the heat down, put the lid on your saucepan and simmer for approximately 15-20 minutes until it is soft but still separate. Take it off the heat.
• Drain it and fluff it with a fork.
• For a creamier consistency increase the ratio to 1 part millet to 3 parts water

Tips for Cooking Millet
I like this salad best warm as this is when millet tastes its best. 
Spend the extra time it takes to toast the millet as I feel like the grains cook a bit more evenly and clump less when toasted.

*A rolling boil is a vigorous state of maintained boiling in which large bubbles erupt continuously on the surface of the liquid and cannot be disrupted by stirring or adding ingredients. Clouds of steam roll off the surface of the water and the boil is audible.

Tips for Crunchy Fresh Beans

• Roast in a hot oven 230C/450F.
• Make sure your green beans are completely dry
• Use enough oil to coat the beans
• Do not overcrowd your pan, spread them out in a single layer on your tray so they have the opportunity to brown

Tips for Crunchy Frozen  Beans

• Roast in a hot oven 230^oC/450^oF.
• Make sure you rinse your beans under cold water and dry them thoroughly as the melted water will prevent them from roasting well and browning.
• Use enough oil to coat the beans
• Do not overcrowd your pan, spread them out in a single layer on your tray so they have the opportunity to brown

Some Grain Salad Recipes to Try: