This month, we have the treat of having two new recipes. This one from Georgia Reader brings us what is commonly known as the national dish of Tanzania. This hearty vegan stew is best served over rice or ugali, a simple corn porridge. The warm spices are tempered by the creamy coconut milk but you can adjust the spice to your taste. Use canned (rinsed) kidney beans and you can have dinner on the table in no time. Details
Ease and flexibility are the hallmarks of this simple recipe that packs a ton of flavor. Akin to a salsa, try this chopped salad with flatbread, chips, or tortillas, or add it to almost any bowl or “make your own” night – perfect for baked potatoes or baked sweet potatoes, burrito bowls, rice and beans, or just topping a green salad. Recipe co-curator Georgia Reader says it comes together quickly and tastes delicious. “Soaking the raw onions mellows the flavor so they blend better with the other vegetables.” Try some of her suggested variations to make this work any time of year. Details
Uji is a spiced millet breakfast porridge usually served with a side of mandazi or other sweetened fried dough (similar to a light, fried doughnut). Originally, it was made with millet that had been mixed with water and fermented for added depth of flavor. More often now it is made with a millet flour blend which adds flavor and texture without the three-day fermenting time. Because it is economical to prepare, it has become a common street food. Details
Musakhan is a spicy chicken and onion dish often prepared for special occasions, but it can be made ahead for a weeknight meal. It is usually served on a bed of flatbread. Details
This month, two recipes combine for a delicious Ethiopian treat: a spiced butter (Niter Kibbeh) and a lightly sweetened and spiced bread (Himbasha). Note that spices commonly used in Ethiopian cuisine are featured here, including cardamom and fenugreek. Though you can certainly enjoy this Ethiopian sweet bread with spiced butter spread any time of day, it is generally eaten for breakfast or as a side to a meal, as desserts are not common in Ethiopian cuisine. Details
Irio is another simple but delicious Kenyan week night dinner. There are many variations – from a simple mash of sweet potatoes, peas and corn seasoned with salt and pepper, to a spicier dish using a blend of sweet onions, smokey paprika and hot sauce. I preferred the spicier blend with white and red sweet potatoes roasted to maximize their sweetness. Details
Nacatamales are flavorful masa dumplings, stuffed with a variety of fillings, which are then wrapped in banana leaf and steamed. The filling is made up of spiced meat, beans, and vegetables and there are as many recipes as there are families eating this delicious dish. Chicken, beef, and pork are the most common meats, and potatoes, peppers, and beans are staples, but you will see recipes including everything from squash to raisins. These are the traditional Christmas breakfast in many Honduran homes. Details
According to Oxford Languages and Merriam-Webster, a tagine is both a North African, slow-cooked stew and the special clay dish in which it is cooked. Beyond that, the ingredients can be up to you. Details
It’s comfort food around the world: pasta and cheese. This Haitian version has a unique taste because the pasta is cooked well done (not al dente) and spiced up with epis, a sauce commonly used in Haitian cooking, which we highlighted in 2020. For this dish, I did add some jalapeno pepper to the epis to bring a little heat. Details
This is a family recipe from Sabita Rakshit, a friend of recipe co-curator Georgia Reader. Sabita’s family is from Bangladesh, but family members now live around the world and share food photos to stay connected. This is a common breakfast dish, but it is hearty and warming any time of day. It is a “to taste” creation, and served in some form across South Asia and around the world. Details
Ibihaza is a bean and pumpkin stew common in Rwanda. It was originally made by soaking dried beans overnight and then stewing them with pumpkin. In recent years, cooked bean stores have emerged to fill the need for precooked beans to save time and the fuel needed for cooking them in the home. These beans are sold precooked and unseasoned. Details
Mandazi is delicious breakfast food of lightly fried sweet dough flavored with coconut and warm African spices. It is crunchy on the outside and pillowy soft inside, making it a perfect complement for coffee or tea. It is a common street food in Kenya. Details
The Dominican chimichurri burger has been called one of the best street foods in the world. The burgers are cooked on a hot griddle or skillet so that a crispy crust forms around the juicy inside. I made one batch with ground beef and one with ground Impossible burger, a vegan option. The spicy sauce, tangy tomato, and cabbage complement the burger resulting in a unique take on an old classic. Details
This month’s recipe is Pupusa from Guatemala. Pupusas are stuffed tortilla snacks often sold by street vendors. Traditionally, Pupusa are stuffed with beans and cheese but you can find many varieties with various vegetables and pulled meat. Details
This month’s dish is samp and beans, which comes from Zimbabwe, a central African country. Zimbabwe is bordered by two rivers which supply fish to eat and water to grow crops in the summer. Most of the crops and fish are dried to last through the dry winters. Common to every culture is a stew started from dried beans and vegetables – what sets them apart are the spices used to flavor them. This dish uses a unique blend of warm African spices that elevate the dried beans and samp into a hearty stew. Details
This month’s recipes are from Bangladesh and were supplied by Sabita Rakshit, a friend of mine who grew up in the southern region close to the coast. With fish being readily available, she said most meals would include a fish and rice dish accompanied by various daals (lentil stew) and vegetables. Breakfast was usually Luchi aloo dum. Luchi is deep fried flat bread and aloo is potato – basically, thick gravy made with potatoes and some green peas added. Details
This month’s featured dish is Lambi, a spicy conch stew that was once considered the national dish of Haiti. It is made with a pepper and herb blend known as epis, which is a common addition to many Haitian dishes. On the side is pikliz, a spicy, cabbage-based vegetable blend fermented in vinegar. Overfishing has threatened conch fisheries and made it a less suitable choice for consumption, so I tried a few vegetarian alternatives. I made a batch with plant-based faux scallops in place of the conch and one with button mushroom tops in place on the conch. Both were delicious options with sustainable products. Details
This month we are visiting the cuisine of Kenya, an African country whose border touches both Lake Victoria and the Indian Ocean. While researching foods common to the area, I came across pepper soup, which is served across Africa in many forms. It can be as basic as a broth or stock flavored with ground black pepper and served over stewed fish or chicken, or it can be a more flavorful soup made with a variety of peppers, both dried and fresh, with a combination of meat and fish. Details
This month’s featured recipe is a delicious filled pastry from Lebanon called Maamoul. These molded cookies feature a rose and orange blossom water flavored dough filled with date and nut blends. Each cookie is formed by hand and pressed into a mold which is then wacked on a table or counter to release the cookie which now has a beautiful design imprinted from the mold. A Maamoul mold has indentations of various shapes, size, and design. Each design signifies a different filling. Details
Rice cooked with meat and vegetables is eaten all around the world. Pilaf, or rice cooked in broth, is believed to have originated in Persia around 500 BC. By the time it reached Africa, it had become a blend of rice, warm African spices with various meats mixed in. In Kenya it became Pilau, a rice and meat dish with a familiar spice blend. Details
This month we are celebrating Malawi which is in southeastern Africa. Although Malawi is landlocked, a third of its territory is covered by Lake Malawi. Lake Malawi National park is a UNESCO World Heritage site for being of “global importance for biodiversity conservation due particularly to its fish diversity.” The cuisine of Malawi is reflective of the abundance of fish in the area as well as the fruit and vegetables grown there. Details
While working on the recipe for this month’s Featured Grantee’s country, I took a moment to reflect on how much I have enjoyed being on the recipe team at Dining for Women. It has sparked the return of a world map to the wall of my kitchen, so I know where each country is geographically. It has also deepened my appreciation for the women of the world who manage to prepare delicious, nutritious meals for their loved ones no matter how scarce the resources at hand. Details
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