Easy Lentils and French Bean Soup

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This recipe has been on my menu for the past six months. I tried it once by simply gathering all ingredients in the kitchen I could find one evening. I shared it with one of my relatives who also loved it.

I use dry lentils.

Ingredients:
– 1 large onion                        – 2 cloves crushed garlic                  -Crushed ginger
– 2 carrots                               – 5 medium sized potatoes               – French beans
– Boiled lentils                        – 3 tomatoes                                     – Curry powder/Royco
– Pepper (optional)                – Oil

After boiling and draining the lentils;
1. In a covered saucepan, saute onions for about three minutes on medium heat.
2. Add crushed garlic, ginger and pepper and cook for two minutes.
3. Add chopped potatoes and carrot. Stir every few minutes to prevent potatoes from sticking to cooking pot.
4. After cooking for about ten minutes, add chopped tomatoes and french beans.
5. With the potatoes half-way cooked, add lentils & cook for seven minutes until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
7. Add salt and curry powder to your taste. Cook for a minute then add enough water to make soup.
8. Serve.

The first time I cooked this meal, I served it with chapati.

I believe you’ll love it too. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know. And share it with your family & friends.

Collard greens & Spinach

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In Kenya, collards are very popular and almost every household cooks them. They are commonly referred to as Sukuma wiki, meaning ‘push the week’. They are mostly served with ugali, the staple food.
Most households have a recipe they prefer to others, but the most common ingredients are four- the collards, tomatoes, onions and oil. There would be no need to add water if enough tomatoes are used.

I personally love cooking this dish, especially in the evening when I get home tired, because it is quick to prepare. I put water in a saucepan and place on heat to boil as I clean the vegetables.

However, adding spinach and a few spices makes it more delicious and enjoyable. Meat can also be added or cooked alone as a thick stew. Others cook a side dish of eggs with tomatoes. For this recipe, we shall cook the collards with these other vegetables.

Serves 3
Ingredients:

  • 5-7 leaves of spinach 
  • 5-7 leaves of sukuma wiki/collard greens
  • 2 large tomatoes
  • 1 onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • Oil & salt

Method:
1. Wash and then chop both the collards and spinach in same large bowl.
2. Place oil in sauce pan and heat.
3. Add the chopped onion and cook till translucent.
4. Add crushed garlic and cook for a further one minute.
5. Add chopped tomatoes. Cook till they form a paste. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and cover.
6. Cook for between seven to ten minutes until the greens are soft. If too dry, add a little water or stock.
7.  Remove from heat and serve.

This simple dish can also be served with rice.
A little crushed ginger can also be added together with the garlic. Any curry powder could also be added either after the onions and garlic or after the greens.

Next, I’ll share with you a collard recipe mixed with meat/beef.
Hope you enjoy this.

Pumpkins for breakfast

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I had pumpkins for breakfast today. They are easy to cook since they only need to be boiled with a little salt.

Cut the full pumpkin into quarters or smaller wedges. You may peel them if you wish though I prefer cooking with the skin on.Put them in a cooking pot with water slightly above the pieces. Sprinkle a little salt, cover and put to boil.

Continue boiling until they are tender (pierce with a fork to check). Remove from the pot and set aside on a plate to cool. Serve with tea.

In our rural home, and many other regions in Kenya and Africa, the pumpkin leaves are cleaned and used to cover the boiling pumpkins, and then a lid to cover the mouth of the most commonly used earthen pot. This a pot molded from clay which is also used to cook other dishes and for storing drinking water. Believe me, the water is always cool even during the very hot seasons. It is called Jungu in Kiswahili.

Boiled only beef/chicken stew

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Considering that today most of us eat unhealthy foods compared to our grandparents and great-grandparents, I think it is good that we try as much as possible to reduce our intake of these foods.
I don’t like using a lot of cooking fat or oil when cooking, although some dishes require it especially those that have to be dip-fried. Lately, I have been trying to come up with some easy recipes that can be cooked by methods like boiling, steaming and baking.

I have found that soups that include beef and chicken can be cooked by boiling only and the end-product is very delicious. Also, boiling does not require a lot of attention and I can actually multitask; I can be doing my laundry on a Saturday morning while boiling away some lunch soup/stew, githeri(mixture of beans/peas and maize), or muthokoi(beans/peas and maize without the husks). Githeri and muthokoi cooked using dry maize and beans take longer periods to cook than the stews.

There are those who soak the maize and beans overnight then boil for a few minutes the following. I DO NOT do this because the food is not usually as delicious compared to that which has been boiled for two or three hours depending on the amount.

Anyway, this post is not about cooking maize and beans/peas but boiled stew. One of my favorite is a mixture of beef, potatoes, plantains, cabbage and other vegetables. I’ll however post this recipe later.
Let me share this simple beef/chicken stew with you. It is similar to the other that I will post later.

The idea is to start with the ingredients that take a much longer time to cook, in this case, meat. Those that take the least time are added at the end.

Serves 4
Ingredients:

  • 1/2 kg beef/chicken
  • 4 large potatoes cut in half
  • 3 large tomatoes
  • 1 bunch coriander/dania (optional)
  • Royco

Procedure:

  1. Put chopped meat into a coking pot and add about 3 cups of water. Bring to boil.
  2. Boil for about thirty minutes until they are almost tender.
  3. Add the potatoes, cover and cook until the a fork can pierce the potatoes without crumbling.
  4. Add the chopped tomatoes and dania. Add some little royco/curry powder of your choice and cook till both the potatoes and tomatoes are cooked.
  5. Add the rest of the royco and salt and let boil for five minutes.
  6. Serve 

Other spices can be added instead of the royco like ground garlic or ground coriander if the fresh alternative is not used. At this point, add only those spices that are in ground form sice they would not require a lot of cooking.
The stew can be served with chapati, rice, mukimo, boiled plantains, or even served as an accompaniment of the githeri (whose easy recipe I will post later).
You can experiment with other ingredients and vegetables to your liking but remember to always start with those that take longer time to cook.

Egg Toast

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This is another very easy toast recipe I prefer for Saturday and Sunday mornings.
I like it since it is not only tasty but also because I can make a good number of toast slices using few eggs, even as few as three or four.
I hope you like it too. Put little salt or none at all depending on your preference. Be cautious not to cook the eggs for long, although this could also depend on what you like.
Here is what you will need:

– Beaten eggs
– Slices of bread
– Salt
– Oil

This simple breakfast requires you to be near the kitchen so that the eggs do not burn.

1. Place frying pan on medium heat.
2. Add very little oil on the pan and once a little warm, pour two spoon of beaten egg.
3. Immediately place a slice of bread on egg and let cook for a minute.
4. Remove slice from the pan and add a spoon of oil again.
5. Pour two spoon of egg and place the same slice of bread but on the other side. Cook for a minute till egg is done.
6. Repeat same process with the other slices of bread.
7. Serve with the drink/beverage of your choice.

How to Make Bread Toast without a Toaster

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When I didn’t have a toaster, I enjoyed these toasted bread slices for breakfast for a long time. I prefer spreading some little margarine on the bread though they’d still be okay without.

Needed:

  • Slices of bread
  • Margarine (optional)
  • Skillet/Flat frying pan

Procedure:
1. Put dry frying pan on heat to warm.
2. Spread margarine on both sides of the slices.

3. Once the skillet is warm enough, place the slices and let them cook till browned on both sides. Do not leave them on one side for long to prevent charring.

5. Serve with a beverage of your choice.

This easy breakfast is ideal even when you have a lot to do in the morning as you prepare to go to work or school.

Quick Bean stew

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In a number of estates in Nairobi, it is common to find food vendors selling cooked Githeri, beans and green grams. You can eat the Githeri as it is or cook further with additional ingredients. Whenever I get home feeling tired, I buy from these food vendors then quickly fry them at home.

For the beans, here is a simple and easy to cook recipe. You can serve with rice, chapati or ugali.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup boiled beans, drained
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 spring onion
  • Royco/curry powder
  • 1 bunch dania/coriander
  • 1 garlic clove
  • Oil

Method:
1. Heat oil in a cooking pot.
2. Add chopped onions and saute for about three minutes on medium heat.
3. Add crushed garlic and cook for two more minutes
4. Add tomatoes and dania, then cook till they form a paste.
5. Add royco/curry powder, stir and cook for about two minutes. Do not let them stick to the  cooking pot.
6. Add beans and stir to mix all the ingredients. Cook for about ten minutes stirring every five minutes to avoid sticking to pot.
7. Add 1 1/2 cups water. Taste for salt because of the royco, and if not enough add then simmer for about seven minutes.

Also, you can add green bell pepper and eggplant to the recipe. After adding the crushed garlic, add the bell pepper & cook till soft. Add the tomatoes, coriander and eggplant together but do not cook for long without adding a little water since the eggplant may absorb the oil. Add the other ingredients as above.

Fruits Salad

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Having lots of fruits in the kitchen is not only healthy for your family but it can enable you quickly prepare a fruit salad to go along with your meals. It is common knowledge that daily intake of fruits and vegetables is good for your well being.

Fruits have lower levels of calories compared to other foods and therefore consuming them daily is not as risky as other foods.

This salad is simple to prepare and can be put together in the morning and carried to work or school.

Required:

  • 1 mango
  • Half slice of pawpaw
  • Half slice of pineapple
  • 1 beetroot
  • 3 bananas
  • 1 avocado
  • Quarter slice of water melon

Preparation:
Peel and cut all the fruits except the beetroot into small chunks and mix together in a large bowl.
Grate the beetroot into the bowl and mix evenly.

All the above fruits provide the body with various nutrients, mostly Vitamins. They help improve the immune system and appearance of the skin among many other benefits.

Fish stew

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Here is a simple recipe I like for cooking fish like tilapia. It doesn’t take a lot of time to prepare and can be served with ugali or rice.

Ingredients:
1. 1 whole fish, cleaned
2. 1 onion
3. 2 large tomatoes
4. Dhania/Coriander
5. Crushed ginger
6. Crushed garlic
7. Fresh lemon juice
8. Pepper (optional)
9. Royco

 Method:
1. In a small bowl, mix the crushed garlic, ginger and fresh lemon juice.
2. Slit the fish across two or three times depending on the size.
3. Insert the crushed garlic, ginger and lemon juice into the open slits.
4. Deep fry the fish on both sides till brown and cooked.
5. Saute onions in little oil in a cooking pot till transluscent.
6. Add tomatoes and dhania.
7. Add salt then cook till they form a paste.
8. In a bowl, mix & stir 1/2 cup of water and royco.
9. Add to the pot and stir. Bring to a boil.
10.Put whole fish into the pot then let cook for ten minutes on both sides.
11.Serve with fried rice or ugali.

Don’t cook the fish in the pot for too long so that it does not crumble.
Royco can be substituted with curry powder or any spice of your choice. You can also add it directly to the tomato paste without first mixing with water in a bowl.Curry powder doesn’t need to be mixed with water before adding to the pot.

Preventing pests in the Kitchen

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A kitchen being the focal point of food preparation should always be clean and free from all pests.
This doesn’t always happen and all necessary measure should be taken to ensure that it is spotless. A dirty kitchen can prevent visitors from eating anything in your house for fear of illness. Cockroaches running up and down your wall and rats racing across the room are unsightly. Remember there are people who fear these rodents and may even make for the door on seeing them.

To prevent this, ensure your kitchen is always clean. Clean up after every food preparation. No food particles should be left lying on the floor or counter tops. Do not return chopping items like boards and knives before washing with both soap and water. Water alone doesn’t remove all food grains. Scrub well at the ends of the board, especially if it is made of wood.

Remember to wash all utensils after every meal. Leaving them lying in the sink overnight attracts pests like cockroaches which are quite active at night. Some types of food, especially soups, may make the kitchen smell bad in the morning. Also, waking up to do the dishes is not the best way to start your day. Clean them up in the evening to have an easier time making breakfast.

Before going to bed, it is advisable to ensure that the kitchen bin for garbage is well closed. This will not only prevent rodents but also reduce the chances of mosquitoes raiding your kitchen.

The kitchen should be well ventilated, especially during the day. Clean the floor everyday and if you have a backyard, place the garbage bin outside. Do not leave stagnant water in the sink. Dry it up and put the damp cloth out to dry.

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