accra and volta

first meal upon landing in accra, capital city of ghana in west africa is the omnipresent and most popular jollof rice with fried chicken. bought from a chop bar, wooden kiosk housing a lady who dolls it out into styrofoam packs from plastic containers filled from her kitchen. chop = pidgin english for grub, chow, food. jollof rice is mildly spicy and tastes like pulao with more tomatoes in it.

waakye (watch + yay) is rice and beans, served here with chili and boiled egg. this is breakfast on 3rd day from another chop bar.
fufu and fish stew. the spoon is a spoiler that this plate is being eaten by a non-west african and a very spoilt indian. i can do the finger slurping action, but post lunch interaction with work colleagues has me playing cold with my fingers. fufu is boiled and pounded yams, plantain and maize. its sticky puddingy texture can only be accompanied with a thick soup of meat and/or fish. never ask a west african kitchen to make you vegetarian fufu, you won't hear the end of it.
fried yams with grated tomatoes. i could not finish my plate. starchy and heavy on a sunny sunday afternoon up a hill village in the volta region. meal companion, an american volunteer, called it the country version of french fries and ketchup.

sisko's go veggie sawed in half

so i just heard the news on day 6 that my dear sisko in crime had quit the 10 day veggie scene on day 2 itself. + my partner felt let down that i had foregone the flesh. reassured him that i would be back on day 11. have reserved table for 2 at 1 star michelin for a 7 course meal. prolly the worst way to get back because the stomach feels so light - me having not pummeled it with red meat this week.

storing the refrigerator with veggies requires some rearrangement. i've got roots (carrots, potatos, gralic, ginger...) in one crisper, liquidies (melon, gourds, tomatoes ...) in another and leaves (chinese cabbage, mustard leaves, chards ...) in a separate container. this is more for me to remember what i have in those supermarket plastic bags rather than any quality saving tactics. because when it comes to veggies, i tend to want to try combining them with new mates.


ajwain flavoured moong dal with tofu and karela in a jeera stir fry


in a rush between tasks, so i pick up a falafel roll at the central railway station. 6 customers, all of whom order shawarmas, get their order served at the quick - the chef is not ready to dish up a veggie roll at peak lunch hour!



i have not got the afternoon slumps since day 1, caused by intake of high level of sugars (like in white bread) because i've discovered spelt (ancient grain which is a cousin of the wheat with better protein figures). above is spelt pasta with feta, olives and ruccola.


some flavours that will never go out of fashion with me, with flesh or without, is a quick stir fry with tofu, button mushroom and mustard leaves in light soya. top with black pepper and sesame oil.


had veggie friends over. barbaresco, a north italian red, drowns the oyster mushroom risotto and olive feta ruccola salad with croutons toasted in olive oil. yes the spelt pasta above was made from the remains of this salad!

sunday brunch at the local bakery, i pay the same as the regular brunch plate even after the service staff has removed the sausage, ham, bacon and other carcass on my request and served me the remaining. since even the veggiefied version is quite a fullness in itself, i did not complain. left all those cheese slices though. they had no drama in them.


late home from work, quick boil of peas, mushrooms, carrots and dunk in an egg. filling soup.


stumbled upon this quaint organic foods cafe. potato leek soup, spinach mash with pinenuts and spelt bread. soulful wholeful. beetroot cafe, elmegade, norrebro, copenhagen.

day 3 saturday starts slow

peanut butter and butter toasted bread slice

day 2 go veggie days

hearty start (no pic): omlette, fried mushrooms and cherry tomatoes with spelt bread
warming lunch: windy weather and back from swim, brothed fried tofu with udon and mustard greens
oops evening: work break sandwich array at botanical garden copenhagen did not have veggie choice, extracted bacon from curry flavoured rosemary roll. the oops was the shredded chicken embedded with the shredded veggies. not much removal possible there. do i have to start counting from day 1 again?

day 1 lazy veg lunch + dinner

carrot peas pulao for lunch and dinner

wontonwarrior conscious nutrition - day 1 lunch

-nutty bread-
rustica loaf w walnuts n raisins.

-bittersweet harmony-
potatoes in rice wine and ginger w sugar.

-monk's soup-
Chinese herbs, plums, ginseng, cherry tomatoes et al.

N.B.
can add maize, leeks to soup next time. when i move my it to the store!

sisko's go veggie DAY 1 breakfast

meal 1 day 1 of sisko's go veggie is breakfast of oatmeal porridge with milk, pomegranate and palm sugar

Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread Cookies
Originally uploaded by RubyTuesday77

A recipe from Aquavit's pastry chef Carina Ahlin.

I found this recipe on Yahoo, while reading up an article about Aquavit (From the phrase Aqua Vitae meaning water of life), a Scandinavian restuarant in NYC. Carina joined Aquavit as Pastry Chef in 2005, and apparently compiled her first recipe book at age 10.

The Gingerbread cookies were sumptous - the perfect combination of bread, cookie and ginger.

Aquavit showcases the culinary creations of rising star Chef Marcus Samuelsson, born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden.

For more info on Aquavit visit http://www.aquavit.org

Bistro Beef Steak

Bistro Beef
Originally uploaded by RubyTuesday77

I am always on the lookout for recipe books, and I've found some pretty interesting ones along the way. I recently picked up a little recipe booklet by the American Heart Association called "Fast and Flavorful Beef - Heart Healthy Recipes".

Yeah, I know what you're thinking - Beef and heart healthy?????

Well apparently beef in America is 20% leaner than it was just 14 years ago, and at least 19 cuts of beef meet government guidelines for lean, meaning each cut has less than 10g of total fat, 4.5 g or less of saturated fat, and less than 95 mg of cholestrol per 3oz serving.

For this particular dish I used boneless beef top sirloin steak. It was so simple, and yet quite "flavourful". I cut out all visible fat from the steaks and then cut up the steak lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick strips. I marinated the steak in parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Then I cooked it on medium high heat til it was no longer pink on the outside and served it on a bed of sauteed onions.

Side-dishes included some steamed veggies seasoned with just salt and pepper, and potatoes tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary. Since I didn't have a loaf of french bread, i took some regular whole grain bread, cut each slice into triangles, brushed them with olive oil and toasted them. Mixed up some fresh crushed garlic in some butter to spread over the toated bread, and we were all set to chow down.

Don't know if the meal ended being heart healthy, but it certainly was " hearty".

spring sundays

vee baked chevre on toast with blueberry quash.
zee flipped omelette with gruyere, an ode to the last sunday breakfast she had with her kaerste (above, he topped it with smoked salmon).
riri steeped the oolong.

meal at parisienne friend's

red. white. clear. desert. green.
with poached fish, apple vinegar dressed salad leaves plucked in france, dill sauce, fennel saute, cheeseboard, choco mousse.

what crawls in my pie

snails. restaurant food garden, viking line, helsinki-stockholm.

dragunera nero

and never forget that name. a wine i will hunt down to the ends of the earth. offered as house wine in cafe carpe diem, gamla stan, stockholm

spring leftovers

beansprouts. raw tuna. baby spinach. mussel risotto. cherry tomatoes. leftovers from yesterday.

kok a duudal duu

5 of us at the easter sunday table. painted eggs with wax, hibiscus tea and berry juice.
1 wanted to eat it,
1 wanted to roll his down a rock into the sea,
1 wanted to see what the others did first,
1 wanted to hide it and
1 wanted to play whose egg can crack the other's.

black stuff. mammi. finnish rye porridge.