Early on in my sleepy postpartum season, I found myself one evening trying to put together a dinnertime meal one-handed, as I tried to calm a fussy baby. I pulled a combination of things out of the freezer, tossed them together in a casserole dish, and popped it into the oven. (I had frozen some meal staples earlier in the summer, so I had a bag of cooked millet, a bag of grated cheese, and a bag of tomatoes to work with.)
It turned out to be a nourishing alternative to a boxed “macaroni and cheese dinner”, as well as quick and delicious! This meal has had a weekly place on our menu since then as one of our favorites. By request, I’m finally getting around to sharing the recipe!
Millet & Cheese Casserole
1 1/2 cups dry Millet
3 cups Water
1 1/2 Tbl. Whey or Lemon Juice (Optional; for soaking overnight if desired)
1 cup diced Tomatoes (green ones work, too!)
2 cups grated Cheese (Cheddar, Colby, or Pepper-Jack are good); you can add frozen grated cheese, if necessary; it still melts quickly enough
1 clove minced Garlic
1/2 tsp. dry Mustard Powder
1/4 tsp. Paprika
Sea Salt & Pepper to tasteIn a pot, combine millet and water. Add whey or lemon juice if soaking overnight. When ready to prepare, cook millet until soft and all water is absorbed. Into the hot millet, stir in cheese, tomatoes, garlic, mustard powder, paprika, and salt and pepper. Heat on the stove until cheese is melted and tomatoes are heated through.
(If desired, you can prepare this ahead of time with cooked millet (leftovers are great!), and mix in the remaining ingredients. Just pop into the oven until hot and cheese is melted (about 350* for 15-20 min.).
It’s a great warm dish on a cold fall day!
This sounds great! I've been making mac & cheese with brown rice pasta, and although we love it, it's turned out to be a less-than-frugal dish. This sounds like a delicious alternative…thanks for sharing it!
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Michele Reply:
June 6th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
@Mindy, Maybe about 3 servings as a main dish?
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Yum – this casserole sounds delicious and healthy. I've never cooked millet before but you're inspiring me to try it. Happy Thanksgiving and blessings on your day.
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Michele, about how much would you say this recipe makes?
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Michelle,
I looked up how to cook millet, as this is my first time using it, and most recipes say 2 or 3 cups water to 1 cup millet. 1/2 cup millet in your recipe seems like not enough – is that a typo? I'm making it tonight, so I think I'll go with a whole cup and see what happens!
Katie
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Thanks, Katie! Yes, it was a typo!
I use 1 1/2 cups of millet for our family. I fixed it in the recipe. 
Blessings,
Michele
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Can you use canned diced tomatoes for this or will only fresh ones work?
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Michele Reply:
June 15th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
@~M, Canned diced tomatoes would be great! Add the water from the can, too. It should freeze just fine!
Blessings,
Michele
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Also, do you think this would freeze well? Thanks!
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I added cooked cubed chicken breast a cup of frozen corn, a cup of green bell pepper and a tablespoon of taco seasoning to make a chicken and cheese taco millet casserole. We liked it.
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Michele @ Frugal Granola Reply:
September 28th, 2010 at 11:17 am
@Katie, Yummy! What a great idea.
Thanks for sharing!
Blessings,
Michele
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