Foo - Vegetarian North African Dish

This is a dish which originates in the Sudan but has evolved with passing from one person to another. The story behind this recipe, my best friend says, is that it is the only good thing to come out of a past relationship where she was dumped for a thai ladyboy! It's an excellent vegetarian recipe and is extremely healthy and tasty to boot!

North African Foo

Ingredients

3 types of beans - 1 tin per person (kidney beans and butter beans are excellent in this dish)

curry spices or 1/2 jar of Pataks Balti Paste

1 small piece of ginger

2 cloves of garlic

Tomato Puree (if you don't use the Balti Paste)

1/2 a block of Feta cheese

1 small bunch of Coriander

2 Onions

1 Tomato

Lemon Juice

Eggs (1 per person)

Method

Chop 1 onion and cook with the balti paste. Add the beans and simmer for 20 minutes. If you are using dried beans boil them until they are soft and then add as above. Chop remaining onion and tomato finely to make a small side salad, squeeze lemon juice over the salad. Boil Eggs for 5 minutes. Serve the foo in a bowl with feta cheese crumbled on the top and garnished with coriander and the halved eggs. Eat with turkish flat breads or crusty bread on the side with a small side bowl of the tomato and onion salad.

Review

I had forgotten just how delicious this recipe is. The combination of the spiciness of the beans, the crunchiness of the tomato and onion salad, the zinginess of the lemon with the freshness of the coriander sends your taste buds into overdrive. The explosion of flavours is incredible. It's an ideal dish to serve at a dinner party for vegetarians, you can always leave out the egg and feta if you have any vegans attending.

Caldo Verde

The first recipe comes from my best friend Fran who is also a foodie. She has spent a lot of time living on a yacht and this recipe is a favourite from her time in Portugal. Caldo Verde is a hearty soup made from chorizo sausage, cabbage or greens, potato and olive oil. It is that simple and that delicious that this will soon become a firm winter favourite.

We're lucky to live in London where there is a large Portugese community and our ingredients were bought on South Lambeth Rd in Vauxhall where there are plenty of lovely little Portugese deli's and tapas restaurants. It's well worth a visit especially on days when Portugal are playing football as the atmosphere is positively festive, only if they're winning of course!

Caldo Verde

Ingredients

250g Chorizo sausage

1 small Cabbage or 25og Greens

3 Potatoes

1/2 cup Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

Method

Boil the potatoes until soft then mash into the remaining water. Add cabbage or greens and chorizo and cook for further 5 minutes until the colour of chorizo goes into the potatoes. Add the olive oil at the end to taste. Serve with crusty ciabatta bread for optimum satisfaction!

Photos and the recipe review to follow in my next post.

Foodie Feasts

Here's to all those who are passionate about food! I plan to explore everything to do with food on this blog and I'm going to start by reviewing some of my friends favourite recipes. My inspiration has come from a group of friends who live to cook for each other. Our monthly gatherings are food for body and soul as we kick back with full tummies and tantalised taste buds to bask in the warmth of our friendship.