This spin on the classic American Southern recipe for red beans and rice incorporates two key ingredients to give it a Jamaican edge … Scotch bonnet pepper and allspice. I was inspired to cook with okra more often after watching countless African home chefs on YouTube, so this recipe seemed okra-appropriate. Many thanks to Ghanian…
Smoked Tomato Soup with Roasted Eggplant
This tomato soup gives you a good reason to fire up a small grill during the cooler seasons. It captures all sorts of hearty, tomatoey goodness by grilling tomatoes over mesquite chips and sautéeing a tomato paste base over the stovetop. There are only few ingredients to this recipe, but there are a lot of…
Spinach Artichoke “Pesto” with Goat Cheese
This easy “pesto” was born on a day when I was craving spinach artichoke dip, but was really not in the mood for the cream cheese and heavy cream in practically every recipe I could find. So, I took a healthier & lighter approach with fewer ingredients and arrived at this pesto-like mixture (omitting the…
Cucumber Salad with Chili-and-Garlic-Oil
The marinade from this cucumber salad can be applied to any vegetable you prefer, but I’ve found that it works most amazingly with cucumbers due to their absorbent nature. A tangy edge is introduced from fresh lemon juice and if you’re not familiar with freshly ground coriander – which I hear is actually seeds of…
Jollof Rice – Vegan Style
After obsessing over countless Jollof Rice recipes from African cooks on YouTube, I have arrived at this recipe which follows more of a Ghanian method. There is an ongoing culinary debate about how Jollof Rice is prepared between countries; for example Ghanian uses basmati rice and a has lighter, fluffier texture. Nigerian recipes use long…