Grilled Mushrooms with Coriander Millet and Lemon-Tahini Sauce | Gluten Free | Vegan

Bright, fresh, grilled sweet corn and coriander pair with buttery millet and hearty grilled portobello mushrooms and creamy lemon-tahini sauce. This dish is just what I want to come home to while the summer sun is still shining, but a heartier autumn wind is setting in. Overall, a simple, elegant, and fast week night meal to make healthy, seasonal eating easy and delicious. Has anyone been mushroom foraging before? Me neither, but it is high on my foodie bucket list. Mushroom foraging seems to be a hobby for the landed gentry who drive Land Rovers and wear tweed hats and those puffy jackets that only look good on middle aged women bearing a resemblance to Helen Mirren. Given our recent rainstorms and hot fuggy days our backyard has become prime mushroom growing ground. Not that we are eating any of those mushrooms! Luckily the weather has been kind to our local mushroom growers too, and our favourite varieties of fungi have started sprouting at stalls all across the farmers market too. No need for a tweed hat or puffy vest at all. Today’s recipe uses large portobello mushrooms. I find that they have a lot more flavour than flat field mushrooms, and they are often thicker and more substantial too.

Our long hot summer means that the hot weather harvest vegetables are still going strong, and the corn at the markets is extra sweet. I love the mingling of summer and autumn that happens in March. This plate is a celebration of the end of a sweet summer and the beginning of a rich and nourishing autumn.

Millet is one of my favourite wholegrains. It’s actually an ancient seed, and used most commonly in birdseed, but the birds certainly know a thing or two: millet is super nourishing. Naturally gluten free, and filled with iron, B-vitamins and calcium, this little seed is a nutritional powerhouse and a great alternative to quinoa or rice. Millet by itself has a buttery flavour and I cook mine in low-sodium vegetable stock for added flavour and then spice it up at the end with handfuls of chopped fresh coriander. The tahini, lemon and garlic dressing is a creamy and bitey finishing touch.

This recipe is simple, so remember to choose the best of each ingredient. Glossy sunshine yellow sweetcorn, firm portobello mushrooms and the freshest herbs you can find. Hopefully next summer I’ll be foraging fresh herbs from my own garden! Now that’s at the top of my foodie bucket list! Other contenders: picking apples, owning an olive tree (there’s a farm nearby where you can ‘sponsor an olive tree’ and they harvest and preserve each year’s harvest for you), making my own cheese, and going on a wine tour in France, among other things. For now, I’ll settle for a hearty and bright autumn plate and a food magazine to dream over.

Grilled Mushrooms with Coriander Millet and Lemon-Tahini Sauce

Gluten Free | Vegan |  Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup millet
• 1 cup reduced-salt vegetable stock
• 4 large flat portobello mushrooms
• 2 cobs sweetcorn, husks removed
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander
• Juice 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed

Method

1. Rinse millet and place in medium saucepan with vegetable stock. Place over high heat and bring to the boil. Once it starts boiling, reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stand for 5 minutes before fluffing grains with a fork.
2. Heat a large non-stick griddle pan (or non-stick frying pan) over a medium-high heat. Cook mushrooms cap side down for 3 minutes or until starting to brown. Turn over and cook cap side up for another 3 minutes. Grill corn at the same time, turning frequently so that all sides are cooked evenly.
3. While the mushrooms and corn are grilling make the dressing. In a small bowl whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, tahini, salt and pepper, and garlic until well mixed and creamy.
4. When corn is cooked cut kernels from the cob. Mix corn and coriander through cooked millet and divide between plates.
5. Top millet with mushrooms and drizzle sauce over the top.