A Deliciously Healthy Valentine

My partner knows that one big path to my heart runs right through my stomach. I’m convinced, too, that he wants me to live a long and healthy life – a nice thing to know! – since most of his food gifts to me are so deliciously healthy.

He surprised me this Valentine’s Day with the latest example of his curative culinary creativity: a heart-shaped pancake made with freshly-ground millet flour. Millet, a gluten-free gain, is a good source of B vitamins like thiamin and riboflavin, as well as minerals like magnesium, potassium, silicon and iron. Chinese medicine considers it a yin-builder and beneficial for the kidneys, pancreas and stomach. Several sources list it as alkalizing as well as anti-fungal.

If you want to try making your own millet pancakes, here’s his approximate recipe. Though I haven’t repeated this in the ingredients list, we use organic ingredients whenever we can.

Dry ingredients:
1 ½ to 2 ¼ cups millet flour (grinding it fresh keeps the vitamins from oxidizing and the fatty acids from going rancid; we use a Vita-Mix for this, which makes it easy)
1 to 2 tablespoons protein powder (we use Garden of Life Goatein; for vegan pancakes, you can use an equivalent rice-based protein powder)
Cinnamon or similar spice(s) to taste (we like cinnamon best, but also sometimes use cardamom, allspice, and/or nutmeg)

Liquid ingredients:
2 to 3 eggs (or equivalent powdered egg replacer, for vegans), lightly beaten
1 ½ to 2 cups water
about 1 teaspoon vanilla
a dash of Morin Labs Selectrolyte (we use this instead of salt because it’s tested to be free of contaminants, especially heavy metals, but you can also use a dash of salt added to the dry ingredients if you wish)
up to a tablespoon of melted virgin coconut oil

Combine dry ingredients in a medium to large mixing bowl. Combine all liquid ingredients except coconut oil in a separate bowl and mix well. Pour liquid ingredients into dry and mix until combined and smooth. While stirring, drizzle melted coconut oil into batter. Adjust quantity of flour or water to get a batter consistency you like. Cook on stovetop as you’d cook any pancake. We use a cast-iron pan with coconut oil, which is stable for cooking, over moderate heat.

As you can see from the photo, I like my millet pancakes with mashed wild blueberries, full of phytonutrients that help the brain. They add just the right touch of mild sweetness to the subtle cinnamon-vanilla flavors in this recipe. Yum!

Here's wishing you a Healthy Happy Valentine’s Day!