Plantains are among the staple ingredients in African cuisine. In fact, in most parts of Africa, Plantains are as unavoidable as potatoes are in the West. Grilled, boiled, pounded or deep fried, Plantains can be prepared in different ways and make good side dishes and snacks.
There are those days where your life looks like an episode of Chopped. You have a bunch of ingredients seating in your fridge and pantry that usually don’t fit together. Or at least, you don’t think they fit together. But you are stuck with these ingredients because you didn’t have time to go grocery shopping or you are too lazy to make a stop at the grocery store.
The Lingala word for donut is Mokaté (in plural the right word is Mikaté). Mikaté are commonly served for breakfast and for snack time. In Brazzaville (Congo), Mikaté are a street food favorite that you can find on the stand of almost every street vendor in popular neighbourhoods. It’s also the case in Brazzaville’s twin city across the Congo River, Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo). In fact, Mikaté are without a doubt among the most liked and eaten dishes in both Congos.
I ended my Vegan week challenge with a simple and healthy recipe. My sister introduced me to quinoa six years ago and since then I’m totally hooked. I usually eat quinoa in salads, however from time to time, I find myself replacing rice with quinoa to accompany my curries or stew dishes. Quinoa is also listed as one the world’s healthiest foods because it’s a nutrient-rich grain with countless health benefits. Quinoa is easy to prepare and also gluten free.
Madesu is the Lingala word for beans. Beans are one of the staple ingredients in the African cuisine and they are cooked in every part of Africa in different ways. That’s why as part of my Vegan week, I decided to make a vegan version of the African red beans stew I used to have when I was growing up. Usually in Congo, Madesu or beans are served with beef, pork, salt cod or tripe sheep, however since I’m fully vegan this week; I decided to make this stew without adding any type of meat or fish.
On Day 2 of my Vegan challenge I decided to make a vegan and gluten free snack. Usually for a crunchy snack I would pick a bag of potato chips or shrimp chips when I do my grocery shopping. However, since this week, in the spirit of trying new vegan dishes, I decided to give this recipe of chickpeas a try because I had heard from many people who are vegans and not vegans that roasted chickpeas were delicious to eat. To be honest with you, after making them myself, I can tell you that I wasn’t disappointed. I would go as far as to say that this vegan snack will remain on my must-eat even after this Vegan challenge ends.
Going Vegan for one week!!
Weeks ago, a friend of mine who is vegan taunted me about not being able to spend a week without my proteins. So this week I decided to accept her challenge by going fully vegan for a week. As a meat and dairy lover, I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could spend an entire week by only eating vegetables and substitutes to meat and dairy. You have no idea how it’s difficult for anyone who likes to have meat and dairy in their daily meals to be deprived of it for seven days. However, I’m ready for the challenge.
Rita's Notebook 