Millet Porridge with Roasted Oranges & Almonds, 3 Ways

What do you do with your almond milk 'waste'? You know, the by-product of making almond milk. I can't ever bring myself to throw it away, so I use it for a million things like thickening stews or adding a protein element to a simple pot of brown rice. In fact, I don't call it waste, because I use it. I call it almond meal. Perhaps this will sway you to make your own if you think spending money on almonds just to make milk is wasteful when you can buy it for a fraction of the cost. Almonds, it seems, have become more than just an element in your trail mix. And almond milk that you've made in your own kitchen is so much more satisfying, not just in terms of flavor, but in terms of culinary accomplishment and the dedication to nourishing yourself rather than just plain eating.

My blog name literally translates as 'eat of the whole pig', meaning, enjoy the whole of life, and further, honor it in its entirety. Life, yes, and the pig. The pig gave up its life for us, as did the almond, and so I think we should celebrate it. I did indeed promise to you a celebration of life when I named my blog, and with everything that I post from the writing to the recipes and the photographs that capture my journey with food, our journey really. I do hope that you take the recipes that I post and make them part of your own journey in some way. For nothing brings me greater joy than when a friend emails me and tells me that they've made a dish and loved it, so please don't hesitate to let me know if you have too. I love the interconnectivity of cooking and sharing in this space. That's what makes this blog so much fun, and if I may confess, addictive.


Mangia Tutta Di Maiale is truly a 'labor of love', so the phrase is turned, though the word labor here really doesn't apply. Along with writing, there is nothing more that I would rather do in my day, and frankly, there is not much more that I do do. I hope that the recipes that I come up with will inspire you to do meaningful things in your kitchen as well. Perhaps after reading a post you will remember to soak a cup of grains. Maybe you've come to think of dandelion greens as the star of supper tonight instead of a bundle of weeds with a price tag. The farmer's market and the bulk food's section at your local grocery are markets of endless possibility. It's rare that I ever eat the same thing twice, because there is so much more to experiment with.


Finally, you should know that you are pretty much experimenting right alongside me when you read my posts because most of the ideas that you see here are just that, new ideas that have not been tested before I pass them on. Usually they are born from the tug of hunger and a 'taste' for something. Before I know it, I'm snapping pictures of its emergence and making mental notes of all the steps along the way, the theme for our next post. Rarely does anything stellar come from too much planning. For me anyway. The best things I've created are invented from elements that I happen to have on hand, and an idea that materializes when I'm doing things that aren't food related at all.

I must admit, I keep a well-stocked larder and I market several times a week. I'm also in the habit of arbitrarily filling my green market basket with far too many goodies, and scooping up exciting things like legumes that I've never seen before, or farro that has not been pearled. When the mood strikes me later on, I have an arsenal from which to effortlessly pull. Mine is a home that is never without a huge jug of olive oil and at least three types of herb. In the very least, those things with a pot of any type of rice or grain makes a meal that I would choose over a restaurant any day.


I encourage you to keep a well stocked pantry and fridge as well. I believe that it is the only way to give yourself the freedom to experiment and find something new. As is the case with this dish that I thought of today. I was on my way home from running errands, hunger tugging at my sleeve, and I remembered that I had soaked some millet the night before, as I often will soak a random grain or legume and let inspiration lead me to make something of it. At the red lights, and behind the bumpers of a very long queue of Angelenos, home bound after a long day at work, I suddenly had the taste for something comforting and warm, something with a hint of sweetness. By the first bite it was all of the things that I needed at the moment, and I was grateful indeed that this is the pantry that I built and maintain, one with the potential to create food that I consider comfort food. Food that is close to the earth. Food that feeds me. Simply and humbly.

Millet Porridge with Roasted Oranges & Almonds, 3 Ways

I am aware that not all of you will make almond milk. That's OK. Not everyone can be an overachieving hippie. This dish will be just as delicious and comforting with store-bought. You will just omit the almond meal which gets added to the cooked millet. For those of you who do want to 'eat of the whole almond', the recipe for almond milk is explained at the bottom of the post.


Here's what was in my larder, this recipe will satisfy three.

Homemade almond milk and the meal derived from making it, 3 oranges, a cup of millet, a handful of almonds that you have toasted & prunes, about 15. You will also need cinnamon, pure vanilla extract and honey.

Soak the millet with a tablespoon of lemon juice overnight.

The next day, give it a rinse. To cook, bring 2.5 cups of water to a boil, add the millet and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, turn the flame down to low, and simmer till tender. Shouldn't take more than 20 minutes or so.

While the millet is cooking, zest your oranges. You will only need a couple of teaspoons for the pot of porridge, but you may as well zest them all and save the rest. All you have to do is put the remaining zest in a small container, cover with olive oil and refrigerate. Later, brush the zesty oil on fish or chicken or stir it into a lovely cauliflower velouté

A word on zesting. Try not to get any of the white pith from the peel, it's bitter. All you want is the orange skin. This handy rasp will help prevent any pithy mishaps. You should definitely invest in one. It's one of my most prized kitchen tools.

Next, carve off the peel so that it looks like the one above. All you have to do is slice off the top and bottom, then using a paring knife and starting at the top, slice off strips, following the shape of the fruit, all the way down using a short, sawing motion.

You will end up with a pile of skins with some of the orange adherent. Don't throw these away. Instead, render them of their juices but just pressing it out with your thumb.

Slice the orange into disks and place, single layer, in a pan with any residual juice from the cutting board, and that which you have pressed from the peels.

Drizzle with honey.

Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Pop under the broiler until they get blistery and brown and the juice bubbles and reduces a bit.

They should look like this.

Meanwhile, rough chop your almonds.

Do the same for your prunes.

Check your millet. When it's tender, fluff it with a fork.

Then pour in about a cup and a quarter almond milk, or enough to give it a porridge consistency, and gently fluff with the fork again. You don't want it to get gluey, and it will if you stir it too hard.

Now get your oranges, along with their juices, into the pot along with two tablespoons of the almond meal (omit if you are using store bought almond milk), a couple of teaspoons of orange zest, about half-teaspoon cinnamon and incorporate by fluffing. These measures are all guidelines. Feel free to add more or less to suit your taste.

Spoon the porridge into your loveliest bowls, the ones that you use when you want to celebrate, and top with the chopped almonds and sliced prunes. Drizzle with honey if you'd like, though I take mine without, and spoon a couple of tablespoons of almond milk over the top.

Et voila!

Mangia bene, vivi felice!

Homemade Almond Milk

Soak a cup of almonds in water overnight. Countertop is fine.

Pop them into a blender with a cup and a half of water and blend on high speed until quite smooth.

It should look like this.

Next, over a large measuring glass measuring cup with a spout, pour the almond milk into a chinois, a funnel shaped strainer like the one above, or any kind of fine-mesh strainer that you have.

Stir the mixture vigorously.

Pressing the solids against the sides.

The resulting meal should be quite dry.

Use the almond milk in the recipe as outlined above, or in any of your hot or cold cereals. It's also lovely in place of a glass of milk. Consider adding a half teaspoon of vanilla to the almonds during blending, or sweetening with brown rice syrup. Caution: this almond milk will 'break' in hot beverages, that unsavory curdling that you see with some nut and soy milks, so you may want to avoid using it in coffee or tea. What a shame.