One Pot Southwestern Risotto with Millet

I’ve made this yummy one pot southwestern risotto with millet dish a couple times now for family and friends. It’s a quick and easy meal to make that you don’t have to spend much time on. In fact, most of the recipe is just waiting for the broth to soak in. This last time I made it for my friend who has a husband and 3 kids to feed. Her reaction: “I could totally make this for my family! You better be leaving me the recipe.” The whole thing takes about a half an hour to make unless you are gabbing with a friend like I was. Then maybe an hour with frequent talking breaks. ;p

This was quite the cool conversation though and worth the distraction! She was telling me that a lot of my recipes require so many ingredients that she doesn’t want to make it, she just wants to eat it. So we started talking about the pros and cons of my ingredient lists. Sure, you can go to the store and buy that already made sauce and use that one ingredient instead of blending the tomatillos and spices yourself, but you are also putting ingredients in that recipe now that you would never put in if you were making it at home, like preservatives, extra salt, oil, etc. And sure you can save yourself from chopping, but then you are losing the nutrition you could have had you spent the 10 minutes chopping up a zucchini and onion. So then the question becomes: “Do you think it’s worth the extra time to have a meal with more vegetables, nutrition, and most likely leftovers for lunch tomorrow?” I think it’s worth it! I can control how much my dinner makes and freeze half for dinner another night if I want and I know I’m getting at least 3 servings of vegetables that meal. To me that’s worth it! It’s worth blending my own spices, sauces etc. to know my family is healthy. One of the biggest changes I notice when I cook like this is we snack less because our meals are full of fiber. Why would your body crave more when it’s already getting everything it needs?

This dish is total comfort food that has a south-of-the-border chili or tortilla soup meets paella or risotto vibe. I actually had a really tough time naming this because it’s different than anything I’ve ever had. So, you could say I created a whole new dish! But how often can you say you are eating comfort food that is easy to make, quick and super nutritious!? This is a high fiber and high protein meal that will leave you full but you won’t feel weighed down like you do with cheesy risotto.

If you were like me and thought that corn is just a starch, let me tell you how “just” wrong that is. Corn is a great source of anthocyanins (flavonoids/antioxidants), beta-carotene (immune system/eye health), caffeic acid (antioxidant), coumaric acid (antioxidant), ferulic acid (antioxidant/skin health), lutein (eye health), syringic acid (neutralizes free radicals/antioxidant), and more. It also will help you absorb minerals better when you are eating it with the beans in this dish. Who knew!?

My friend thought up a really great alternate way to cook this! She thought this would be great to throw in the crockpot on low before work (after the onions are browned) and come home to a ready one pot meal. She also thought her boys would like it with some ground turkey…if you want a non-vegan way to make this.

If you think of a name or something you would compare it to once you try it, please put it in the comments below! It will help me out and everyone else that makes it.