An excellent start to a meal or a meal in itself. Try this filling and healthy foxtail millet salad which has cherry tomatoes, refreshing cucumbers and zingy lemon.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Cup Foxtail millet rice
• 3cups water
• 1 small onion, diced
• 7-8 Cherry Tomatoes (Halved)
• Red/Yellow Bell Pepper, diced
• 8-10 Baby Spinach leaves, cleaned
• 5-6 Lettuce Leaves
• Handful of roasted peanuts

For the dressing

• 2 Tbsps Lemon Juice
• 2 Tbsps Olive Oil
• ½ Tbsp Honey (Or more if your prefer the salad slightly sweeter)
• 2 Tsps Oregano Flakes
• 2 Tsps fresh ground black pepper
• Salt as per taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Wash the foxtail millet and drain it using a fine sirve
2. Put the water to boil in a vessel. Let the water come to a boil and reduce heat once boiled. Add the washed millet to the water, cover with a lid till the rice is cooked. For the salad, it needs to be cooked a bit fluffy.
3. Once the rice is cooked, let it cool down.
4. Mix all the salad ingredients, except the peanuts, along with the foxtail rice.
5. In a small bowl, put the lemon juice and the olive oil together and mix well. Add the honey and other dressing ingredients to this and mix. Do not add the salt right now.
6. Gently mix the dressing in the salad.
7. I usually add the peanuts and salt just before serving the salad, to avoid wilting of the greens and keep the crunchiness of the peanuts.
8. Serve this cool summer salad as a side dish in any party or as the main dish on the dinner menu for a week night dinner. The combination of the foxtail millet and the fresh crunchy vegetables makes this a yummy and wholesome meal.