Sunny Millet Pilaf & Croquettes with Cheesy Creamy Cashew Sauce

This recipe is for a big dish of millet pilaf which is great for a party or a pot luck. I brought it to Thanksgiving yesterday.

Uncooked millet doubles in size when it is cooked, just like rice and quinoa. This recipe calls for 2 cups of uncooked millet, so it makes a lot. When I am making this for us on a weeknight, I halve the recipe. But either way, I make these croquettes with leftovers and serve them on top of this decadent cheesy creamy cashew sauce.

Sunny Millet Pilaf
1 onion
1 carrot
1 leek
2 cups uncooked millet
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
2 cups toasted sunflower seeds
1 cup frozen corn
Olive oil
Salt
Dried sage *

Prep the vegetables: dice the onion, dice the carrot, and clean and chop the leek.

In a big pot, sauté onions in oil and salt. Add the carrots and leeks. When just softening, add the millet and toast for a minute or two. Add the stock and water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the liquid is absorbed. Add the corn and season with salt.

Toast the sunflower seeds for 10 minutes in a 350 oven. Crush the sage between your fingers and remove any stems.

Mix the millet pilaf, sunflower seeds and sage. Stop here and serve hot, warm or room temperature.

Croquettes (makes a dozen croquettes using a 3 tablespoon ice cream scooper)
3 to 4 cups of millet pilaf
2 flax eggs (1 flax egg = 1 tablespoon ground flax + 3 tablespoons water)
Grapeseed oil

Make the flax eggs. Mix in pilaf. Heat grapeseed oil in non-stick pan. Fry until crispy on both sides. Drain on a paper towel.

Creamy Cashew Sauce (makes about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (nooch)
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Process the cashews in the processer to a fine powder. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until well incorporated. Add more water, if necessary to thin out. Refrigerate until ready to use. It gets better with time!

Using a ladle, place sauce on the bottom of a plate. Top with croquettes. Enjoy!

* I got a bunch of sage in CSA Week #22. I hung it up on a knob in the kitchen and it dried out. Then I crumble it and use in recipes that call for sage!