Recreating Millet Yam Cakes

Once upon a time (and by that I mean a month and a half ago) I sat in Whole Foods in Orlando and ate two incredibly delicious things: a millet yam cake and edamame succotash. I pocketed the tops to both containers so that I had the list of ingredients to recreate both at home. Since then, I lost the ingredients for both and never recreated them. That is, until tonight, when I was thinking of what to make for my weekly night film class. At Whole Foods, the millet yam cake was cold, which I initially found a bit jarring but was too lazy to heat it up. The more I ate it, the more I began to actually really like it that way. So, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to make it myself. I forgot the complete ingredients list, so I'm going off of part memory, part taste, and part...me.

Millet yam cakes

Adapted from Whole Foods

Ingredients

- 1 medium sweet potato, roasted and mashed

- 1/4 cup dry millet, toasted

- 1/4 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

- 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

- 1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari

- 1 tsp olive oil

- Fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Instructions

- Roast sweet potato in a 400 degree oven until tender. Allow to cool slightly, remove skin, and mash with a fork. Set aside.

- Prepare millet via packaged instructions. My millet comes out perfectly by dry toasting it first, bringing it to a boil with 3/4 cup water, simmering for 25 minutes and taking it off the heat (covered) for 5 minutes.

-Add millet, sweet potato mash and other ingredients in a bowl and thoroughly combine. Don't be shy, use your hands. I love getting my hands in my food whenever possible because it makes me feel like I'm more connected to what I'm making. Plus, it's fun.

- Press mixture into a 1/2 cup measuring spoon or an ice cream scoop to form cakes.

- Bake in a 375 oven for 25 minutes, or until golden and firm on the outside. Serve immediately, at room temperature, or cold. I prefer mine at room temperature, dipped in organic ketchup.

Makes 2 large cakes

I'm shocked at how much this tastes like the cake I had at Whole Foods. I'm also shocked that such a short, basic ingredients list can produce something so spectacular. Don't bother adding flax or any type of egg replacer because these hold together beautifully. This simple dish just proves that good quality, whole food ingredients don't need a fancy pearl necklace or a designer bag - they're fine just the way they are.