Serve this Dilled Millet and Vegetable Salad when you want to get the dinner conversation going. Full of healthy grains & veggies, this salad will also fill you up!
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I first had this unusual salad at an outdoor summer party at the home of a friend; not only did I love it, but I was impressed with the enthusiasm with which other guests ate it. Bland but nutritious millet, after all, is not a grain that normally causes excitement.
This salad makes normally mundane millet into a delicious star of the show! Serve this yummy salad with your veggie burgers and kebabs from the grill, or alongside a warm and comforting casserole or soup. This salad tastes great with everything!
How to Make Dilled Millet and Vegetable Salad
- Toast millet.
- Add water and simmer until all absorbed.
- While millet cools, steam snow peas.
- Combine all ingredients but the last two.
- Let salad sit for at least an hour.
- Toss in remaining ingredients, garnish, & serve.
Full directions for how to make Dilled Millet and Vegetable Salad are in the printable recipe card below.
Dilled Millet and Vegetable Salad FAQs
Can I use a grain besides millet?
You can use any grain or pasta in place of the millet if you don't have any on hand. Some good substitutes could be quinoa or couscous. However, millet doesn't often get a chance to shine, so I recommend using it for this recipe!
Additionally, you can also use different vegetable for this salad, too! Almost any other fresh vegetables can be substituted for the ones in the recipe, but fresh dill and a strong dressing are musts!
Why do you have to let the salad sit for an hour?
Letting the salad sit helps the flavors really meld together. The flavor from the veggies soaks into each other and the millet. Your salad will still taste good right away, but it will taaste much better after an hour or so.
Here are more recipes for grain salads.
Recipe
Dilled Millet Vegetable Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw millet
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup snow peas trimmed and halved crosswise
- 2 medium carrots thinly sliced
- 1 cup yellow summer squash diced
- 1 red bell pepper cut into short, narrow strips
- ½ cup radishes sliced
- 2–3 tbsp minced fresh dill
- 2–3 scallions minced
- ⅓ cup good-quality vinaigrette homemade or store-bought
- ¼ cup vegan mayonnaise
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved, plus more for garnish
- ¼ cup toasted sunflower seeds optional
- curly parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Spray a non-stick skillet lightly with cooking oil spray.
- Add the millet and toast over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 5 to 7 minutes or until the grain smells nutty.
- Pour in 2 ½ cups of water and stir in the salt. Bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer over low heat until the water is absorbed—about 40 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, fluff with a fork, and let cool.
- Steam the snow peas briefly until bright green, then rinse with cool water and drain.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooled millet, snow peas, and all remaining ingredients except the last two.
- Toss gently but thoroughly, cover the salad with a cloth or plastic wrap, and let the salad sit for 1 to 2 hours before serving.
- Just before serving, stir in the cherry tomatoes and nuts or seeds.
- Transfer salad to a serving bowl and garnish the edge, alternating halved cherry tomatoes with sprigs of curly parsley.
Ruth Gagliano says
I made this years ago (from your book on Celebrations) for a small dinner party, and it went over with rave reviews! Thank you so much for sharing your tested recipes, they're wonderful.