Recipe: Millet Fritters with Spinach and Cheese

I like food. I really like cheap food. I also like food that tastes good and is good for you, but most of the times when I'm making stuff the "cheap" wins out. Of the wide assortment of weird exotic grains that they're telling you to eat because they're "good for you" whole grains, one of the least expensive is millet. It's still about 10 cents more per serving than brown rice but compared to quinoa and amaranth it's still damn cheap. Also, at least in my opinion, millet tastes better, especially when fried. Even if it's mostly associated with animal feed, it's worth giving a chance.

With a lot of health food recipes I've seen, there's a call for other exotic ingredients to go along with the weird grain that may themselves be expensive. Like, what the hell is halloumi? Where am I supposed to get it? This recipe, aside from the millet itself, uses very common ingredients that you probably have on-hand. So, give it a try:

The fritters (left) as part of a bento. 

Ingredients:
1 cup dry millet
2 cups water
1 bullion cube (either chicken or vegetable flavor)
3 eggs
1 medium onion
1/2 cup spinach, frozen
minced garlic to taste
pinch of salt
flour
olive oil
mozzarella cheese (optional)

1. Cook the millet using the two cups of water and the bullion cube. I have a rice cooker so I used that and set it to the "brown rice" setting. If you don't have a rice cooker, use the directions on the back of the packaging or online directions if you bought in bulk.

2. Lay out the millet in a sheet to cool off -- about 30 minutes

 3. While that's happening, dice your onion as small as you can. Thaw your spinach and break it up into pieces.

3. Crack open three eggs into a large mixing bowl and beat until mixed. Add the millet, onion, and spinach, and mix well. Then add the garlic and salt.

4. Add the flour a tablespoon at a time until you find that the mixture just sticks together well enough to form patties. They don't have to be big patties, about the size of a bottom of a drinking glass.

5. Heat up some olive oil in a pan with a lid on medium-low heat. Add the patties, making sure they don't touch, and cover, cooking for 5 minutes. Uncover and flip the patties over, cooking for another 5 minutes

6. Stick a fork in 'er, she's done. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese if desired. These keep a few days in the refrigerator.