Three-sisters-and-a-niece salad

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Native American women in Haudenosaunee villages and surrounding communities commonly grew three staple crops: corn, beans and pumpkin or squash. They have great yields, are water wise and grow well together (the corn becomes a trellis for the beans to climb and the pumpkin leaves provide shade). This trio would become known as The Three Sisters, and they show up daily in South African cooking, too. There are many renditions of this salad. Mine is bulked up with millet, a delicious indigenous grain.

Ingredients

150 g millet
1 t ground turmeric
2 cups vegetable stock
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 T olive oil
100 g baby corn
1 x 400 g punnet mixed marrows, cut into chunks
150 g fine beans, sliced diagonally and blanched
10 g Woolworths petite herb leaf salad
For the parsley dressing, blend:
30 g Italian parsley
30 g fresh coriander
1 clove garlic
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup olive oil
4 T honey
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cooking Instructions

1. Place the millet, turmeric and stock in a saucepan. Simmer over a medium heat, stirring occasionally. Season to taste. Once the millet is al dente, drain and set aside until ready to use.

2. Heat a griddle pan and rub the vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on the griddle pan and char until cooked but still crisp and bright in colour.

3. To serve, spoon the green dressing onto the veggies and spoon over some of the cooked millet. Enjoy warm or at room temperature topped with the petite herbs.

Find more salad recipes here.

Photographs: Toby Murphy
Food assistant: Emma Nkunzana