Diverse meal ideas from my experimental kitchen

Nigerian crepes and Greek yoghurt

Background

Nigerian crepes and pancakes get a lot of hate for being savoury but that’s precisely why I love them. On this particular day, I was craving some. I didn’t know how to balance the carbs, though. I paired them with Greek yoghurt anyway, and enjoyed the treat.

Ingredients

Crepes:

• Flour
• Milk
• Egg
• Fresh pepper
• Minced garlic
• Minced red onions
• Sugar
• Salt
• Seasoning
• Oil or butter

Yogurt:

• Greek yogurt
• Honey
• Chia seeds

Effort level: Medium. Things get messy when you have to handle wet and dry ingredients.

Taste test

It’s sweet, spicy, and savoury, with some crunch from the thin batter coming in contact with the butter. I think a sausage and cheese filling would have made this even better.

Rating: 8/10
Will I make it again? Definitely!

 

Waakye

Background

I love exploring different cultures through food, and Ghanaian waakye is the perfect balanced meal to add to my meal experiments.

In addition to the side dishes pictured, waakye typically includes garri, spaghetti, salad and plantain. But I skipped the garri and spaghetti for fewer carbs, and plantain because I didn’t have it. However, I unintentionally skipped the salad. I forgot to buy fresh veggies, so I blended some leftover frozen vegetables and added them to my stew instead.

Ingredients

Shito:

• Red onions
• Red hot pepper
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Ground crayfish
• Ground dried fish
• Seasoning
• Vegetable oil

Rice:

• Rice
• White beans
• Sorghum leaves (agbo leaves)
• Baking soda
• Salt

Stew:

• Carrots
• Green pepper
• Spring onions
• Tomatoes
• Pepper

Additional:

• Boiled eggs

Effort level: High. There’s a lot to prepare, but it’s so worth it!

Prep steps:

Shito tutorial link 

Waakye tutorial link

Taste test

Yum, yumm, yummy! Shito is packed with flavour, and when mixed with the rice, beans, and stew, it completely elevates the dish. A fresh tomato-lettuce salad would have been a great addition, but even without it, I thoroughly enjoyed this meal. It was incredibly filling and satisfying.

Rating: 9/10 – I truly missed the salad.
Will I make it again? Yep!

 

No-bake cheesecake with strawberry compote

Background

I had some fresh cow’s milk nearing its expiration date and figured I’d turn it into cheese. Then I thought, why not make cheesecake? Since cheesecake is a treat, there’s only so much you can do to make it a balanced meal, but I opted for less sugar by using sugar-free digestive biscuits. Surprisingly, they were delicious and not bland at all.

I also mixed Greek yoghurt into the cheesecake. This was partly because my milk didn’t produce enough cheese, but it blended well. Plus, fermented food is always a gut-health win. For the topping, I used fresh Nigerian strawberries, brown sugar, and lemon juice to make a simple compote.

Ingredients

Cheesecake:

• Milk, lemon, and a pinch of salt (to make cheese)
• Greek yogurt
• Sugar-free digestive biscuits
• Butter

Strawberry compote:

• Strawberries
• Lemon juice
• Brown sugar

Effort level: Medium

Prep steps:

Homemade cream cheese with milk and lemon juice — tutorial link

For the rest:

1. Melt some butter, just enough to moisten the biscuits.
2. Grind the digestive biscuits in a food processor or mortar and mix with the melted butter.
3. In a small ramekin, layer the cheese and Greek yogurt mixture.
4. Add the ground biscuits on top so that when flipped, the biscuit layer is at the bottom. (This didn’t work for me, hence the broken crust, but it was beautiful regardless).
5. Refrigerate and serve with the strawberry compote.

Taste test

It was delicious! The crust was buttery and crunchy, the cheesecake mixture was firm and mild, and the strawberry compote was sweet, juicy, and chunky. The brown sugar gave the compote a mellow, caramel-like sweetness that I liked.

Rating: 10/10
Will I make it again? Of course!

Spaghetti and runner beans

Background

With all my food experiments, one thing I will always do is eat rice and stew. Even if the oil is floating like the River Nile, I’ll drain it if I have to, but I must have my rice and stew.

That said, my go-to vegetable side dish with stew is runner beans a.k.a. green beans. They are cheap, easy to find, cook quickly, and provide necessary fibre and other nutrients. Plus, they taste great. Sometimes I boil them for 3-4 minutes. But other times, I go fancy and sauté them in butter with garlic, like in Asian cuisine. This was one of those fancy days.

Ingredients

Spaghetti and stew:

• Nothing special, just regular degular spaghetti and stew (check out Sisi Yemmie and Kiki Foodies for recipes).

Runner beans:

• Green beans
• Garlic
• Butter/oil
• Pinch of salt

Effort level: Medium to high

Prep steps:

1. Wash, then nip and pull apart both ends of the beans to get rid of the strings
2. In a pan, add a little butter and some garlic
3. Throw in the beans and toss
4. Add some salt if you want. If I’m having an extra salty meal, I skip this
5. Here’s a recipe to visualize this

Taste test

Fresh and buttery! I like my green beans to have a slight crunch, so I don’t cook them for long. They’re a fantastic addition to any meal.

Rating: 10/10
Will I make it again? Yep!