Ever felt tired of that regular predictable food-timetable of yours? Ever wondered silently or openly if there are foods other than the usual rice, noodles, bread, spaghetti, yam, beans(if you are patient enough), soups (if you are traditional enough) or garri?.
“Staple food fatigue” is a phrase that describes a situation when regular foods become unappealing to you. It affects a lot of people and university students with limited time to explore new recipes are not left out. In this article I would be taking you on a tour of some easy to prepare, affordable and delicious foods that can help spice up your diet.
1)Pancakes
The good thing about pancakes is that the ingredients are easily accessible and also affordable. Also, it does not take time to prepare. It could be taken in the morning with any beverage or as a snack with a soft drink. No matter how you decide to take it, it would be a great substitute for bread and snacks such as doughnuts, buns and puff-puffs.
Ingredients for Nigerian Pancake.
125 gr Plain Flour, 2 raw Eggs, 200ml whole milk OR 120ml evaporated milk OR 3tablesponful powdered milk,100ml Water (more or less), 2 tablespoonful Butter/margarine (melted) or Vegetable Oil, 4 tablespoonful Sugar(more or less), (to taste), 1 tablespoonful Onions (minced)(to taste) 1/4 teaspoon Salt,A pinch of Nutmeg(optional),1-2 tablespoonful vegetable oil (for greasing the pan).
Preparation
1) Break the eggs into a wide bowl, add the melted butter and sugar; Cream(mix) together using a whisk or wooden spatula.
2)Add the minced onions, pepper, salt, nutmeg and the milk.Whisk Thoroughly.
3)Gradually add the flour and keep on whisking. The mixture would begin to thicken and look lumpy.
4)Then,gradually add the water and continue stirring until the pancake batter is smooth with a runny consistency.
(Tip: The lighter you make the batter, the thinner the pancakes will turn out and vice-versa).
5)Place a little oil on a pan (preferable a non-stick pan), spread the oil
with a brush to grease the whole surface and heat up until hot.
6) Using a ladle(soup spoon), scoop up some of the pancake batter and pour into the hot pan.
7)Gently tilt the pan, so that the batter can evenly coat the surface of the pan.
8) Cook one side of the Pancake for 30 seconds, then flip over and cook the other side.
Repeat this process for the remaining pancake batter. Serve and Enjoy!. Pancakes are usually served as a snack with a chilled drink or as a breakfast meal with a cool/hot beverage.
2)Fruit Salad
Fruits are great for your health and so is this easy Fruit Salad recipe. Add evaporated milk to this fruit combo and you are one step closer to healthier living!
Ingredients
½ Papaya/ Pawpaw (diced), ½ Watermelon (diced)1 small Pineapple (diced),3 medium-sized Apples (diced).
Milk dressing:
3 tbsp, powdered milk, condensed or evaporated milk
1 cup of cold water
Preparation
1)Wash, peel and chop pineapple, pawpaw, and watermelon.
2)Mix the milk (especially if it is powdered milk you are using)with cold water
3)Pour milk over fruits.
Now you can serve and enjoy or refrigerate.
3)Plantain Moi-Moi (Ukpo Ogede)
Plantain Moi-moi is one of the Nigerian plantain recipes prepared with overripe platains. Do not let the look of this meal deceive you! It is very delicious and it has this unique taste that your taste buds will love!. This could be a good substitute for the regular beans moi-moi especially if you have got a sweet tooth..lol. So stop throwing all your unripe plantains away or lamenting when you are so busy that you cannot fry your plantains and they eventually become overripe. You can use them to create this yummy meal that can be either eaten alone or served with varieties of other foods like custard, pap(ogi/akamu), rice recipes etc. It is also very filling.
Ingredients
2 pcs of overripe plantain (Even if the skin is now black, as long as the inside is not decomposed), 100g plantain flour or corn flour (grinded whole corn not corn pap i.e ogi/akamu),1-2 cooking spoons palm oil, 1 teaspoon ground crayfish, 1 onion, Pepper and Salt (to taste), 1 Knorr cube, water
N.B:The plantain/corn flour is also optional. If unavailable you can use unripe plantains along with the overripe plantains.
Containers
Clean Uma leaves (Thaumatococcus Daniellii), Aluminium foil bags, Bowls, transparent nylons, empty milk tins.
Preparation
1)Put the plantain flour in a bowl, add a small quantity of water and mix till you get a medium consistency.
2)Wash, peel and cut the overripe plantain into small pieces.
3)Grind the crayfish, cut the onions and pepper into small pieces. 4)Blend the overripe plantain pieces, plantain flour batter, onions, crayfish, pepper and stock cube with just enough water to allow the blades of the blender move.
4)Pour the smooth blend into a sizeable bowl and add salt and palm oil. Mix thoroughly till well combined5)Set a small quantity of water in a pot to boil. When the water boils, line the pot with either scrap pieces of aluminium foil or leaf stalks from the uma leaves.
6)Scoop the mix into folded uma leaves, just as you would with beans Moi Moi.
7)Gently place the wraps in the pot of boiling water and cook for 20-25 minutes. Add water along the way if necessary.
8)Leave to cool down completely and set before serving.
Serve with Custard, oat meal or akamu (corn starch meal). It can also be eaten as a snack with a chilled drink.
That’s all I have for you today. You should try them out though, they are very easy and affordable. Stay tuned to find out more exciting ways to treat your tastebuds.
Eshe-Somi
Leave a Reply