You
are probably sick of hearing me talk about food.
I
am a food person – you know this – don't act surprised.
After
a whole month of talking about “Food Security” related projects.
I would like to this week talk about “Personal Food Happiness”
aka a what's happening in Zoe's kitchen update. - Also I am currently on Safari
– So I set this post up ahead of time for today (and it's an easy
subject).
Before
leaving Benin I joked about how long it would take me to change this
into a food blog – I am doing my best here.. talking about food
makes me happy. I promise no more food posts for at least a month :D
At
home – as we all know – cooking and baking and decorating said
items was one of my biggest hobbies (thank god exercising is the
other one).. and an American kitchen was and still is the hardest
thing for me to not have here.. but harder than not having a kitchen
(I can make due) is not having people to cook for. The reason I love
to cook is that I love watching other people enjoy the results.
When
I first settled into my house – I had a lot of trouble cooking (and
by trouble I mean zero motivation). Not because of the supplies, and
not because my kitchen is smaller than most American closets.. but
because I truly don't enjoy cooking for myself. I was perfectly
capable of cooking, I just didn't feel like doing it. During college
I would cook one or two meals for the week on Sunday – and that was
that. I would only really cook a good meal if Erik was visiting or
Laura and I were eating together. So while I already knew I didn't
like cooking for myself, I never considered what this would really
mean when I lived in a place with no refrigerator.
What
this means is I HAVE to cook for myself everyday – even if it makes
me sad. It also means I had to learn to cook in single portions. I
spent my first few months eating pasta, lentils, beans, rice.. really
boring stuff. Somewhere earlier on in this blog I even provided you
with one of my incredibly boring (although rather tasty) lentil
recipes – in case for some unknown reason you wanted to try eating
what I was eating.
***
Here are some better recipes for things I have
since come up with!
Homesick Potato and Carrot Hash
¼
kilo potatoes, chopped small
¼
kilo sweet potatoes, chopped small
3-4
carrots, chopped small (carrots are very tiny here)
as
many cloves of garlic as you want, sliced
handful
of green beans (if available), chopped small
peanut
oil
red
pepper, cumin, salt and black pepper to taste
Chop
up all of the veggies. In a large frying pan add peanut oil and
spices. Add potatoes and carrots and cook.. stirring fairly
constantly. Once the potatoes and carrots look well cooked add the
onions and garlic and some more oil if needed. Add the green Beans
Last. Cook Until everything looks ready to eat. [You can add any
veggies you want to this recipe just add them where you see fit based
on cooking time] Eat with ketchup.
Peanut and Pineapple "Kinda Fried" Rice
2
cups water and citrus juice mixed (maybe 1/12cup h2o and the rest juice)
1
cups white rice
peanuts
(as many as you like)
left
over pineapple (from eating pineapple for lunch) diced
*all
pineapples are different so you will really just have to guesstimate
peanut
oil
1-2
tablespoons soy sauce
1-2
onions, thinly sliced
diced
carrots
Use citrus water to cook rice (like normal). Once rice
is done cooking -- or almost done cooking. In a heated frying pan cook
peanuts until they are warmed and slightly browned. Add oil and soy
sauce. Saute onions and carrots with the peanuts. RIGHT BEFORE adding
the rice add the pineapple to the frying pan just long enough to get
it warm and allow some of the pineapple juice to mix with the soy
sauce and oil. Add Cooked Rice. Stir and Heat until everything is
cooked and well melanged.
Benin
Style Tofu Scram aka Zoe's Happy Belly Nosh
*In
Benin we have “soy fromage” which is similar to really really
firm tofu
As
much “soy fromage” as you think you can eat in one meal, crumbled
1/2-1
teaspoon Tumeric
Olive
Oil as needed
1
cup of quick oats
ginger
powder and red pepper and black pepper to taste
dried
basil to taste
Garlic,
sliced
Onion,
chopped
3-4
tomatoes (probably less in the states)
Your
choice of leafy green – 3 or 4 handfulls
This
is a tofu scram.. so it is pretty basic. First you need to crumble or
chop the “tofu” into the size that you prefer. In a frying pan
heat oil and tumeric (this is really just for color) add “tofu”
and saute until well colored and heated through. Add oats, spices,
and basil. Add Garlic and Onion. Once everything appears to be well
cooked add the tomatoes. Once the tomatoes and leafy greens. You want
to tomatoes warm and the greens wilted into the mixture. At this
point adjust any spices as you see fit.
Zoe's
Chickpea Smash
1
tbsp olive oil
Juice
of 1 citron (this is like a lemon-lime) (probably a little less than
2 tbsp)
*
In the US I would say use a VERY small lime and add a small amount of
lemon
1-2
teaspoons dried thyme
pinch
or red pepper powder
1-2
cloves garlic, sliced
1
small onion (onions are very small here), diced
1
can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
sesame
oil
black
pepper to taste
In
a bowl (big enough for the can of chickpeas) mix together olive oil
and citron. Stir in spices, garlic, and onion. Add Chickpeas and stir
until well coated. Drizzle in a small amount of sesame oil and smash
chickpeas with a fork (for those of you who have had it this similar
to when I make chickpea of the sea). You want the mixture to be
mashed but chunky.. there should still be some recognizable
chickpeas. Eat mixture on a fresh baguette, season with black pepper if
you so choose. *Note:
if you are not hungry enough to eat a whole can of chickpeas then
this is not a one serving meal.
***
I
still frequently make fried plantains because they are delicious.. I
eat them as a snack or with rice and beans for dinner. My french
fries have evolved to garlic fries on most days (the day I realized
that I had been gifted some red vinegar was a happy one for my french
fries – and it only went up hill from there). I wish I ate more
eggplant, but I always end up wasting most of the eggplant due to its
size – so I don't buy them all that often. I don't eat nearly as
much pasta as I did when I first moved it – mostly because the
woman I buy it from started picking up only spaghetti for me – not
macaronis – and I really don't like spaghetti. However I have
learned to make a decent enough tomato sauce out of a small can of tomato
paste when my kitchen is feeling empty.
I
hope you enjoy the recipes!
Z
