A culinary trip to Africa...

This week I chose two dishes from Africa; one from Egypt and one from Ethiopia. Both are signature, staple foods from each country.

Milhouliya is a very common ingredient in Egyptian street food. You'll find it on every corner, served in a million different ways. This particular recipe uses Swiss chard instead of the native Milhouliya, which is a common weed that grows throughout the Nile Delta. You can find dried or frozen Milhouliya in any good Middle Eastern store sold in large bags...I just happened to find some wonderful Swiss chard at the Farmer's Market this week, which makes an excellent, fresh substitution. Combined with the garlic, fava beans (fuul) and lemon, this version is an extremely healthy and nutritious meal, served with rice, especially at lunchtime.

Doro Wat is, similarly, a very common dish found throughout Ethiopia. The spices are reminiscient of curries you find throughout India and there is absolutely no holding back on the quantities here! This particular recipe comes to us by way of Ethiopian Jews living in Israel and is a quick and easy dish to prepare. The traditional recipe is prepared with a cut (into 12 pieces) frying chicken; I North-American'ized this reipe by using boneless/skinless chicken breasts and thighs cut into 1 1/2" chunks, which taste just as good.

B'teavon and Ahava!

Food as Medicine

Have you ever given any thought to what people did before modern-day medicine? Before pills and surgery? Healing foods and herbs have helped people for centuries with many different ailments. Ancients understood the healing properties of the specific foods in their geograpical locations that could cure disease, cleanse the body and correct imbalances.

This week I write about three types of Kicheree, a dish very common in various forms throughout the Middle East and India. Kicheree is an Indian word for, "highly digestable." Kicheree is meant to be eaten during a time of imbalance like flu or colds, or time of digestive problems due to the nature of the ingredients and the way the ingredients are cooked.

Indian Kicheree is truly a healing dish, combining the holy trinity of garlic, onions and ginger. The Iraqi version is a bit simpler, but with its garlic, cumin, lentils and rice, healing nontheless. Did you know that the most perfect combination of protein and carbohydrate is lentils with rice?

Finally, the Iranian version of Kicheree (Adasi) is unique and very tasty with its spices (turmeric is an anti-cancer agent).

Enjoy!

P.S. I will be out for two weeks on vacation, so until then Namaste.