BREAKFAST #2 - VEGAN PANCAKES

These pancakes are absolutely heavenly! You can eat a whole batch and still feel good about yourself afterwards. While most people prefer to make pancakes a weekend breakfast indulgence, you can go ahead and have these any day of the week. It's quick, delicious and entirely good for you!
























Ingredients
(serves 2)
- 1 cup whole grain flour
- 1/2 ripe banana (chopped)
- 1/4 cup dried raisins
- 1/4 cup oats
- 2 cups almond milk
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp sunflower oil
- Pancake topping of your choice (organic maple syrup; freshly squeezed lemon juice and unrefined brown  sugar; agave nectar; more sliced bananas etc.)

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and add the raisins, oats and chopped bananas.

Pour in the almond milk and mix to form a pourable batter. Add a little water if the mixture seems too thick.

Add 1 teaspoon of the sunflower oil to the batter and heat the other teaspoon of oil in a non-stick frying pan.

For each pancake, spoon about 2-3 tablespoons of the batter into the pan and spread with the back of the spoon to form an even round shape.

Cook until bubbles start to form on the surface of the pancake, then flip it over to brown the other side for about a minute.

Serve hot with your favourite pancake topping. I'm a big fan of organic maple syrup...yum!

HEARTY SALAD

Great lunch idea if you want something light but don't want to feel deprived.

















Ingredients
- 1/2 head romain lettuce (roughly chopped)
- 1 diced carrot
- 1/2 green bell pepper (chopped)
- 2 tbsp sweetcorn
- 1 tbsp almonds
- 1 tbsp raisins
- 1 tbsp chopped olives
- 3 tbsp cooked lentils
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- pinch of salt

Vegan Nigerian Okra Soup with Eba | How to Make Okra Stew

I haven't eaten okra in a looonngg time, so I was pretty excited to cook this meal. However, when I realised that the other times I'd eaten okra was when my mum had cooked it for us, I stopped short and genuinely scratched my head for a few seconds as I stared down at the bright green batons.

Isn't technology a wonderful thing? The answer to my problem was just a phone call away! With a pen in hand and a piece of paper in front of me, I jotted down my mum's fool-proof step-by-step instructions. At the end of the call, I was left chuckling at myself and thinking: 'Oh? Well, that's not so difficult.'

So if you've never cooked with this "mind-boggling" vegetable before, I can assure you that this recipe is wonderfully easy to make and incredibly tasty. My version is fully vegan, with roasted tofu replacing the meat.

Eba is a dough made from garri (dried cassava flakes) and is a staple food eaten in the Southern parts of Nigeria. You can find it at any African food shop or online. Although it can be a little heavy (because of the stodgy consistency), paying attention to portion size goes a long way. Not only is it very high in dietary fibre, it also contains zero cholesterol and no saturated fat - win!

Ingredients
(serves 2)

For the okra stew
- 200g firm tofu, diced

- 4 cups okra 

- 1 scotch bonnet pepper

- 1/2 cup vegetable stock

- 2 tbsp palm oil (optional)
- 1 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 2 medium sized tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp crushed garlic

- Salt to taste

- dried parsley, to garnish

For the eba
- 1 1/2 cups garri
- 1 cup boiling hot water

Spread the diced tofu on a lined baking tray and bake at 200C for 20 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Set aside.

To make the okra stew, trim the tops and tails of the okra. Place the okra in a food blender with the scotch bonnet pepper and pulse/blend until liquified, with a few small lumps remaining. 

Bring the vegetable stock and palm oil to a boil in a large pot and add the blended okra. The consistency should turn gooey and bubbly.

Add the chopped red pepper, tomatoes and onions, along with the crushed garlic and season with salt to taste. Cook for 5 minutes on high heat. Add the roasted tofu towards the end of the cooking time.

To make the eba, place the garri in a large mixing bowl and add the boiling hot water slowly, mixing as you go along, until it forms a soft but firm dough - firm enough to hold its shape.

Use a damp wooden spoon to shape the eba into a mound and serve with the okra stew, garnished with some dried parsley.

Now, if you want to go all out and eat this the traditional way, you can use your hand to scoop the eba into little ball shapes and dip into the stew. Entirely up to you! :)

GROCERY HAUL #2

I discovered a new organic fruit & veg shop this morning. I was a bit like a kid in a candy store - wide-eyed and wanting to pick this, that and everything. Thanks largely to the reasonable prices, I ended up buying a wide variety of food items, including a couple of vegetables I've never tried before. It should be fun figuring out what to do with them. Looks like it's going to be a salad-packed week. I even feel inspired to invent the ultimate Nigerian salad dressing, so keep an eye out for that.
All in all, quite pleased with today's purchase :)

- Bok choy a.k.a. chinese cabbage
- Broccoli
- Romaine lettuce
- Vine tomatoes
- Onions
- Carrots
- Green pepper
- Avocados
- Mandarines
- Napa cabbage
- Bananas
- Raw almonds
- Dried raisins

SWEET SPAGHETTI

This recipe is as quick and easy as it gets. But don't let the simplicity fool you. There's something about the nutty taste of the wholewheat pasta mingling with the mild tomato and sweetcorn that creates a satisfying taste experience.


















Ingredients
(serves 2)
- 150g wholewheat spaghetti
- 4 large tomatoes (finely chopped)
- 1/2 cup sweetcorn
- 1 cup vegetable stock/water
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the chopped tomatoes. Add the vegetable stock/water and bring to a boil.

Next, add the spaghetti and season with thyme, curry powder and salt. Cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Add the sweetcorn at the last minute and serve hot.

EATING OUT #2 - ARABESQUE

There's a special place in my heart reserved just for North African cuisine. Spices, fresh produce and generous helpings. What's not to like?
Arabesque is a charming little Tunisian 'salon de thé' located at the heart of Marseille city centre. I came across it on a warm Saturday afternoon after a morning of shopping and walking from one end of the centre to the other with a friend. You can imagine that we were in need of an energy boost at that point. And where better to find a wholesome plant-based meal than an authentic Tunisian restaurant? All I had to do was order the couscous 'sans viande' and within minutes, I had a steaming bowl of vegetable-topped couscous, accompanied by a flavourful tomato-based broth. I'm convinced that my serving was enough to feed a small family! But I certainly wasn't complaining at the time.
Be sure to check the place out if you're ever here on vacation. You'll love it!

SWEET POTATOES

I finally got round to cooking some of the sweet potatoes I bought last week. I cut into it expecting the bright orange variety that seem to be everywhere these days. To my pleasant surprise, it turned out to be the pale yellow variety - the type I grew up with and love so much!

Here are a few great reasons to include this superfood in your regular diet:

- Rich in complex carbohydrates, fibre, vitamins A, B6 and C, manganese and potassium

- Low sodium

- Very low in saturated fat (0.02% per 100g)

- Easy to cook and versatile (boil, steam or bake)

- Good for your skin (produces collagen to help maintain the skin's youthful elasticity)

BREAKFAST #1: PORRIDGE OATS

One of the questions I get asked often is: 'So, what DO you eat for breakfast?' With eggs, milk and sausages (to name a few vegan no-no's) out of the way, it might seem like there isn't much left. But that couldn't be further from the truth.

Throwback: If you grew up in Nigeria then I'm sure you're familiar with the yellow-topped tin of Quaker Oats. Along with Golden Morn and Milo, this was high up there on the list of food-mum-forces-me-to-eat-before-heading-off-to-school breakfast foods.

Now that I'm old enough to appreciate the nutritional value of porridge oats, however, it has become somewhat of a staple.

Here's how to make it extra delicious (and you don't even need sugar!) :
Get your hands on some organic oats and follow the cooking instructions on the pack. Use one part water, one part unsweetened almond milk in place of regular milk. Top your steaming hot porridge with raisins, sunflower seeds and chopped almonds. Fresh fruit like banana and sliced mango work great too.