Last night I adapted the Cauliflower Marranca recipe from Mollie Katzen’s The New Moosewood Cookbook, and though it had some problems, I think it’s a keeper. The problem was that the top dried out. I had foreseen that dryness might be a problem and tried to correct for it by adding a sauce and shortening the oven time, but the problem was I didn’t add enough sauce. I went to my pantry to get out the nutritional yeast for the sauce and –SURPRISE–there was less than 1/4 cup there. So I had to cut down on the amount of sauce I made.
The recipe that follows is my corrected version; it’s how I will make it next time. So, if you follow this, your Marranca should come out nice and moist. If during cooking it starts to look dried out, cover it to keep the moisture in.
Even with the dryness, this recipe was a big hit with my husband and me. E. was a different story; I’m afraid it’s been a long time since I’ve cooked millet, so it now falls into the category of “new foods” to her. If you’ve ever had to feed an almost 9-year-old, you probably know that new foods are like the Antichrist or something: they run screaming from them. I’m not going to give up on millet, though. Once she’s seen it a few times, E. will come around.
Cauliflower Mushroom Marranca
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups raw millet
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 2 cups chopped onions
- 1 pound sliced mushrooms
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons basil
- 1 large cauliflower cut into 1-inch flowerets
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- paprika to taste
Sauce (blend all ingredients well):
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon light miso
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
Instructions
- Place the millet and 2 1/2 cups water into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.
- While the millet is cooking, heat 2 tbsp. water in a large, deep skillet. Add onions, mushrooms, pepper, and basil and sauté for about 3 minutes, until the onions soften. Add the cauliflower, salt, and garlic and cook, covered, stirring frequently for about 5 more minutes. The cauliflower should be approaching tenderness but not completely cooked. Add 1 tbsp. lemon juice.
- Mix the millet into the cauliflower, along with the prepared sauce. Press the mixture into an oiled (or sprayed) 9 x 13-inch pan, sprinkle paprika on top, and bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes, until hot but not dry. Cut into rectangles and serve.
Nutritional info is approximate.
I served this with our favorite kale recipe: Kale with Cashew Cream Sauce.
If you have kids who won’t eat greens, try using some of this cashew sauce on them (the greens, not the kids!) E. always eats all of her kale and even goes back for more. In fact, when the marranca was too dry for her, I got her to eat most of it by putting cashew sauce on it. It’s a wonder food!
PumpingBeat
December 13, 2009 at 4:07 pmQuinoa makes a great substitute for the millet.
Amy
April 7, 2010 at 7:39 amI tried this one out just last night and am AMAZED at how well cauliflower and mushrooms can go together! I'm definitely making this again and sharing with friends!
lovemyfamily
September 19, 2010 at 8:20 amI had a bunch of millet I had to use up so I searched for millet on your website. I thought this one looked good so I gave it a whirl. I kind of figured my 3 year old wouldn’t eat it, but to my amazement he ate a good amount. My 1 year old ate some too, but kids aren’t as picky at 1 as they are at 3 so that wasn’t a surprise. Mine didn’t seem to stay together in a square like yours though.
Mary
October 31, 2010 at 9:29 amI’m allergic to nut. yeast – do I need to substitute something else , or just omit it? Thanks
Jane Mika-Haynie
February 2, 2011 at 10:28 amI made this last night, substituting celery for the onions. It turned out delicious!
One suggestion I would have is that I would state earlier in the written part of the recipe to ‘prepare the sauce’. I was ready to put it all in the pan, then read ‘with the prepared sauce’- oops! Can you create a printer friendly version? Also, do you have nutritional information for this dish?
SusanV
February 2, 2011 at 11:05 amGlad you liked it! I’ve added the printer-friendly version as well as the nutritional data.
Rachael
February 5, 2011 at 4:38 pmDon’t have any miso. Any suggestions for a substitution? That’s the only ingredient I don’t have and I want to make it tomorrow…
SusanV
February 5, 2011 at 5:08 pmJust add a little extra salt.
tokyovegan
March 6, 2011 at 8:01 amHi, Susan.
I just wanted to say thank you for your contribution to my birthday celebration today. We had (in order) your impossible pumpkin pie, cauliflower and mushroom (substituted quinoa for millet and used eringe, shitake and straw mushrooms) marranca and kale (very rare to find here in Japan) with cashew cream sauce!
William
SusanV
March 6, 2011 at 9:10 amMy pleasure! Happy birthday! 🙂
Scott Sammons
November 10, 2011 at 9:52 amLoved this!, well i haven’t found a bad recipe on your site yet. Your site has been my only cookbook for about 2 months now.
THANK YOU
Scott
Jessica
February 6, 2012 at 4:40 amI loved the idea of this, but while making it I kind of went off on a tangent. I layered the millet on the bottom, added some squishy tofu as I didn’t feel like I had enough cauliflower, and have somehow ran out of cornstarch. How the heck? Anyway, added potato starch instead. It’s fantastic! I love the miso in the dressing, it makes it really really nice. It does NOT turn out into squares, but I think it’s totally delish.
Vikki
February 22, 2012 at 5:40 pmMade this recipe this evening and served it with Kale and Cashew sauce, as suggested. It was very tasty, but a bit dry, although I made the sauce according to the quantities and covered the dish, and in fact I think the cashew sauce helped a lot to lift the taste of the meal. I would make it again though! But perhaps I’d put more sauce in the bake.
Michelle
September 4, 2013 at 3:06 pmSusan;
I noticed your recipe you posted January 31, 2006 on the “Cauliflower & Mushroom Marranca recipe from Mollie Katzen’s The New Moosewood Cookbook which I own and love. Funny I was just checking recipes on Millet as I have a big cauliflower I purchased yesterday and came across Mollie Katzen’s recipe. So will first give it a try and see how I like it. You mentioned you added a sauce to yours but I will try her recipe first than will see if I find it too dry.
Michelle
🙂
janet
May 31, 2023 at 3:18 pmwhat is “raw” millet? simply not cooked? Hulled? not hulled?