After seven months of weekend-long intensives, weekly classes, teaching practicums, readings, personal practice and study; the nine ladies of the Shakti Mind Body Studio 2009 – 2010 yoga teacher training class have been initiated into the transformative practice of yoga as teachers and life-long students.

As a member of this class, I’m grateful for the experience of the program and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My interest in food and nutrition goes hand in hand with my study of healing movement through yoga and dance, as they all have the power to heal and foster well-being – body, mind and spirit.

During our graduation celebration this past Sunday, we all brought a vegetarian dish just as we had for our lunches throughout the teacher training program. The spread was delicious and beautiful from roasted vegetables to an Asian noodle stir-fry to chocolate dipped strawberries.

Wanting to make sure I contributed an especially delicious entrée for our special occasion, I looked to the flavor of Indian cuisine with its myriad of spices that always leave my mouth bursting with a party of flavors in every bite. I’m a big fan of Indian food, and thanks to my study of Indian cookbooks and several Indian cooking classes, the chole curry with pulao that I brought to the party turned out very well.

The chole (a.k.a. chickpeas or garbanzo beans) curry included the seasoning of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry powder, garam masala, cinnamon, bay leaves, parsley and fire-roasted crushed tomatoes. With a slow simmer these spices meld together to create a very tasty curry to go over the pulao. I highly recommend finding yourself a good Indian market to get your spices. Their spices tend to be less expensive than what you find in a regular grocery store.

Pulao, basmati rice pilaf, is a very fragrant dish in Indian cuisine. It can be made a variety of ways, but I used spices recommended by Chef Sudhir Seth of Passage to India, which I learned from him during a cooking class.

In addition to using the spices of cinnamon, black peppercorns, cardamom, cumin seeds and cloves, the key to this lovely pulao is washing or rinsing the basmati rice 3 to 4 times to remove excess starch and then letting the rice soak briefly while you cook the spices and boil your water. With the rice left to simmer on low for only 15 minutes and then removed from the heat and left to sit for 5 minutes, you’ll have fluffy rice every time. Enjoy and Namaste!

Chole Curry (Chickpea/Garbanzo Bean Curry)
Serves many (10 – 15)

4 tablespoons oil (extra-virgin olive oil, or ghee, or other)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 cans (15-oz.) of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained
1 can (15-oz.) crushed tomatoes (fire-roasted if you can find it)
2-1/2 cups vegetable broth (plus more if needed during cooking)
2 teaspoons kosher salt (plus more to taste)
1-1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon garam masala
3 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick (optional)
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary (optional)
2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes (or 1-1/2 tbs fresh chopped parsley)
Fresh cracked black pepper
1 Squeeze of fresh lemon (about 1 teaspoon)

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add mustard seeds and cover pot with lid to retain any popping seeds. Cook seeds for about 1 minute (until you hear them begin to sizzle and pop a little). Uncover pot and add cumin seeds, onion and garlic; and sauté about 5 – 8 minutes (until onions begin to become translucent). Note: As always, do not burn the garlic – otherwise start over.

Add the rinsed and drained beans to the pot along with the crushed tomatoes (juice included). Stir and next add the broth, curry powder, garam masala powder, salt, bay leaves, cinnamon stick and rosemary.

Stir contents well, cover pot and increase heat to medium high. Once the contents of the pot reach a hard simmer or low boil, reduce the heat to medium low, cover pot and simmer stirring occasionally. Add additional broth if curry becomes too thick. It should neither be too soupy nor pasty.

After simmering for 20 minutes or so, add parsley, black pepper and lemon juice. Stir and taste for flavor. Add additional salt or curry powder if desired. Simmer on low for an additional 10 - 15 minutes. Serve over rice or with flat bread and enjoy!

Note: You can use dried garbanzo beans as well, just soak them over night and simmer longer (more broth or water needed) until the beans are tender. Canned beans are acceptable; just use a quality natural foods brand that doesn’t include preservatives. I used Whole Food’s 365 Organic Garbanzo Beans.

Pulao (Fragrant Basmati Rice)
Serves 5 (Recipe can be easily doubled)
Adapted from a mutter pulao recipe by Sudhir Seth of Passage to India

1 cup basmati rice
2 tablespoons oil (canola, ghee, or other)
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
5 cloves
6 green cardamom pods
10 whole black peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1-1/5 cups water (plus more for rinsing and soaking)
1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, rinse and drain (wash) rice 3 – 4 times with lukewarm water, then in the same bowl, cover rice in lukewarm water and set aside. Heat oil over medium heat in a medium sauce pan and add cumin seeds. After about 15 – 30 seconds, seeds will begin to sizzle. Immediately add other spices and sauté for about 1 minute.

Add 1-1/2 cups water to pot and raise heat to bring water to a boil. Drain soaking rice and add rice to the boiling water. Allow water to come back to a boil, stir once, then cover pot. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove covered pot from heat and set aside for 5 minutes. Fluff rice and serve.  

Note: The pre-washing the rice removes excess starch and results in separated, fluffy rice.

 

Familiar foods, recipes and approaches to cooking are a real comfort to most of us. They remind us of home, childhood, and good times with loved-ones. They’re guaranteed to satisfy our taste buds and “hit the spot.” However, I’ve realized through my passion for adventure and exploration, that flavors and cuisines from other countries can add a new enjoyment to our meals and even provide a window into understanding other people of the world and their cultures.

The recent disaster in Haiti has me thinking about their foodways and dishes, which you don’t usually hear much about. Despite this, I’ve discovered that this tiny Island country has a diverse, yet simple, flavorful cuisine that reflects the country’s Caribbean heritage and historic ties to Africa, France and Spain.

If you look at the names of dishes from cookbooks like A Taste of Haiti by Mirta Yurnet-Thomas and Fine Haitian Cuisine by Mona Cassion Ménager, you’ll see chili pepper spiced dishes, quiches, plantains, sweet potatoes, breadfruit, salt cod, and other seafood listed. Fowl, pork and beef, and a variety of rice and beans dishes are also major contributors to Haitian cuisine.

I found a simple Haitian red beans and rice recipe online that I made in thinking about the people of Haiti, their cuisine, and those in the country who currently don’t have the food and resources to fully nourish themselves or enjoy their familiar homeland’s dishes.

Although I already made a donation for Haiti’s recovery a while back, I plan to give more. As we all know, the need for aid continues. This Sunday, February 21st, food bloggers in Atlanta, Chicago, New York and L.A. are uniting to sponsor Stir It! 28, an evening of good food and cocktails where foodies contribute their best dishes to raise funds for Haiti. All of the proceeds will be donated to Yele Haiti and Share Our Strength.

While, I can’t be in attendance at what I’m sure will be deliciously entertaining events, I encourage anyone who’s in New York, Atlanta, Chiciago or L.A. to purchase a ticket and join in the efforts. If you too can’t attend, consider giving or giving again to organizations working for Haiti’s recovery (see below). And when you’re back home in your own kitchen, try out a Haitian recipe to remember the people and connect with their culture in a different way.

Haitian Recipe Resources

A Taste of Haiti (Book)
CaribbeanChoice.com – Haitian Recipes
Fine Haitian Cuisine (Book)
IslandFlave.com – Haitian Recipes

Organizations Acception Donations for Haitian Earthquake Recovery

American Red Cross
Salvation Army
Share Our Strength
Yele Haiti
Many others

As I read, travel, attend events and talk to people, I find there is no shortage of inspiration for flavorful recipes. If you pay attention, you’ll see food intertwined with almost every aspect of life. While I had other ideas for a recipe and topic to cover this week, I went to two performances Wednesday night at The Kennedy Center that sent me on a detour. The rhythms of B’net Houariyat of Morocco and the contemporary dance of Karima Mansour of Egypt guided me in an entirely different direction. Before I go any further, you’ve got to take a look at B’net Houariyat’s soul-stirring performance online!

In addition to food and cooking, one of my passions is North African and Middle Eastern dance. When I’m not cooking, studying cookbooks or reading up on nutrition and food, I’m probably in a raqs sharqi (aka belly dance) or North African folkloric dance class. Actually, my love of dance, yoga and healing movement go hand in hand with my exploration of food and nutrition. They are all key elements of well-being.

With the same zeal and thirst for knowledge that I display in growing as a cook and real food advocate, I’m constantly trying to learn and discover as much as I can about the multi-faceted world of North African dance and music. So when I discovered that The Kennedy Center in D.C. was holding a three week festival, Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World, I immediately began pouring over the schedule featuring performances from 22 Arab countries. After leaving B’net Houariyat’s and Karima Mansour’s performances, I wanted to share the thrill and joy I got from their shows. I went home in the mood for Moroccan mint tea and couscous – ready to share a sample of a varied and flavorful cuisine and culture.

Couscous, finely rolled granules of semolina wheat, is prepared in numerous ways all over North Africa and the Middle East. Often served under stewed meats or vegetables (Moroccan tagines for example), couscous makes a great side dish as well. I’ve made couscous as a baked crust over salmon and as a side dish mildly flavored with the taste of diced sweet mango as Marcus Samuelsson does in The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa.

My recipe below includes flavors common to North African and Middle Eastern cooking – lemon, pine nuts, raisins, garlic, and extra-virgin olive oil. Traditionally, couscous is prepared using a couscoussier, which is made up of two pots – one with small holes in the bottom that holds the couscous and sits on top of the other, taller pot in which the stewed meat and vegetables cook. The steam from the simmering stew slowly cooks the couscous in the top pot. I have yet to try this method of cooking, but it is known for achieving the best and traditional fluffy textured couscous.

Most supermarkets in the U.S. carry quick-cooking couscous made by stirring the couscous into boiling water and allowing it to sit for five minutes. The texture isn’t as light and fluffy as steamed couscous, but it’s still delicious.

Enjoy! And while we’re on the topic of the flavors and sounds of Morocco, take a look at Travelista’s recent Moroccan travel adventures. Teri and Andrea’s video coverage of their time in the markets and kitchens of Marrakesh have me ready to go!

Golden Couscous (pronounced koos-koos)
Adapted from a recipe by Tyler Florence

1-1/2 cup couscous (10 oz. quick-cook package)
2 cups water
3 – 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tomato – ripe, but firm – peeled, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 cup golden raisins, roughly chopped
1 cup flat leaf parsley, loosely packed (leaves only) and well chopped
Juice of one lemon (small to medium)
1 teaspoon salt or to taste

In a medium sauce pan, bring water (with a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil) to a boil. When the water just comes to a boil, stir in the couscous, cover and remove pot from heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

In a small sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium. Sauté garlic, red pepper flakes and pine nuts for one minute. Add diced tomatoes and sauté for one minute more. Fluff the couscous and then add sauté mixture, chopped parsley, raisins, lemon juice and 1 – 2 tablespoons olive oil and mix well with the couscous. Salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon), and serve.

I love a variety of cuisines from around the world, and one of my favorites is definitely Latin cuisine. Whether it’s Mexican, Cuban, or some other Latin American fare, I enjoy many of the common flavors and textures of beans, rice, limes, cilantro, tomatoes and spicy chilies. As I try to think back to the first time I had tortilla soup, I can’t quite remember when and where I tried it, but all I know is that I loved it.

To help combat the winter weather (I still have chills from standing out on the National Mall for hours during Obama’s Inauguration ceremony) I looked through some of my cookbooks for inspiration on a good soup. Although, tortilla soup is usually made with chicken broth, I had no hesitation about trying Deborah Madison’s tortilla soup recipe in her cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I’ve tried several recipes from this cookbook, and I’ve enjoyed every one.

Madison’s tortilla soup recipe starts with her red stock vegetable broth made from scratch. I’ve been trying to provide my readers with recipes that are fairly easy and quick to make, so I made several adaptations to Madison’s recipe to come up with a tortilla soup that takes a little less time to make but is still very flavorful.

My version of the soup calls for a quality store-bought, organic vegetable broth and canned tomato sauce. When tomatoes aren’t in season, canned tomatoes or tomato sauces are your best bet for peak flavor. Roasted onions, jalapeño peppers and garlic are also key ingredients to the soup’s base, and the avocado, cilantro and lime garnish along with tortilla strips are the ingredients that truly make the soup for me.

I tried the soup with a garnish of crumbled store-bought tortilla chips, but it didn’t give me the flavor or texture that I love in a good tortilla soup. So, I took a shot at making my own tortilla chips, and now there’s no turning back! From here on out I think I’ll stick to frying my own tortilla chips. They were so good! I made thin strips for the soup, but then I also made some regular triangular tortilla chips and I loved the flavor.

So give this recipe a try along with frying your own tortilla chips. The chips may take you a couple of tries to make sure you have the temperature of the oil just right (I burned one batch of chips because my oil was too hot), but don’t get discouraged. Keep your eye on the chips as they fry. Once the oil is hot, it only takes about a minute to a minute and a half to have crunchy chips to go with a tasty soup.

Tortilla Soup
Adapted from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
Serves 6

4 Garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 Jalapeño peppers
1-1/2 Large onion, peeled, halved and sliced
3 tablespoons Canola oil
2 cups Canned tomato sauce (two 8-oz cans or one 15-oz can)
6 cups Vegetable broth (1-1/2 quarts)
2 sprigs Fresh thyme, leaves removed and finely chopped (or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme)
1 tablespoon Fresh oregano leaves, chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano)
2 tablespoons Fresh cilantro, chopped plus more for garnish
Juice of 1/2 Lime
1 teaspoon Salt (salt to taste)

Garnish
Quick squeeze of lime juice per bowl (about 1 or 2 teaspoons each)
Queso fresco (or shredded Mexican cheese)
Tortilla strips (recipe follows)
1 Ripe avocado, sliced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place jalapeños, sliced onions and garlic cloves on a baking sheet pan and drizzle with 1 tablespoon canola oil. Roast in oven for 25 – 30 minutes turning the the jalapeños over once they begin to brown or blister on one side. Remove the garlic cloves from oven after 15 minutes (before the jalapeños and onions are roasted). Onions will be charred on the ends when done. Allow to cool for 5 – 10 minutes.

Cut off the stem-end of the jalapeños and cut in half length-wise. Scrape out the seeds and veins. Add the jalapeños, onions and peeled garlic cloves to a blender along with the tomato sauce and puree until smooth.

Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in large sauce pan over medium heat. Add puree and bring to a simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the vegetable broth, thyme, oregano and salt. Stir and increase heat to medium-high. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Add chopped cilantro and lime juice, and simmer soup for another 5 minutes or so. Salt more to taste if necessary.

Serve soup in bowls garnished with 2 slices of avocado, a splash of lime juice, crumbled queso fresco or shredded cheese, a handful of crispy tortilla strips, and a pinch of finely chopped cilantro. 

Tortilla Strips/Chips

Corn Tortillas
1/2 to 1 cup Canola Oil

Cut corn tortillas into long thin strips, and then cut in half to give you strips about 2 inches long. If making chips, cut tortillas across two or three times (like pizza wedges) to make triangles.

Heat oil on medium-high in a large pot (oil should be about 2 inches deep). Drop a tiny piece of tortilla in the oil. If it begins to sizzle and fry quickly without immediately turning brown and burning, your oil is ready. If it barely sizzles at all, the oil is not hot enough.

Add strips or triangles to the hot oil. Do not over crowd the pot. Fry in batches if necessary. Oil will immediately bubble up as it begins to fry the tortillas. Move tortillas around gently with a wide slotted spoon or wire spider. After about a minute to a minute and a half, tortillas should be crispy and light golden brown. Remove tortillas from oil and drain over a couple sheets of paper towels. Immediately sprinkle salt over strips/chips. Serve.

 

Go Obama! That’s what I said as I prepared this dish for dinner on election night. Instead of going out to a loud watch party in D.C. to buy appetizers and $12 to $15 drinks, I went to a friend’s house and made a home cooked meal for the two of us as we watched the electoral counts roll in for Obama.

This recipe is based off of my mom’s lasagna recipe which she usually makes with ground beef. Trying something different, I substituted the ground beef with 75% lean ground turkey. I also added sliced baby portabella mushrooms for a change in flavor and texture.

I don’t normally make lasagna, so it was good practice to put this dish together. After I decided on the ingredients for my layer filling, I just assumed that I had an appropriate baking dish for lasagna. However, when I looked at my largest Pyrex, an 8″ x 11.5″ baking dish, it seemed a little too small and shallow for three layers of lasagna. So before I rushed out to buy a new baking dish, I did some research.

Choosing a baking dish for lasagna isn’t complicated of course, but here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Shape: A square shape is the easiest to work with, but not necessary. Oval dishes are on the market as well.
• Depth: Use a dish that’s at least 2 inches deep, but 2.5 to 3 inches deep is better. There are also some deep dish lasagna pans available (3″ – 5″ deep). 
• Material: Use glass or ceramic rather than uncoated metal pans. Acidic tomato-based sauces can react with metallic pans and negatively affect the flavor of food as well as discolor pans.

One other tip to keep in mind, make sure you use enough sauce (the amount specified in the recipe should do it) so that the lasagna doesn’t dry out as you bake it. 

Turkey Mushroom Lasagna

1/2 of a 16 oz box of lasagna pasta 
(or 9 lasagna pieces for a 9″ x13″ dish)
1-1/2 pound of 75% or 85% lean ground turkey
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1-1/2 tablespoon of salt
(1 tablespoon for boiling lasagna, 1/2 tablespoon for seasoning ground turkey)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil
1 small shallot, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
8 oz package fresh baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
Two 16 oz jars of tomato and basil pasta sauce
3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
1-1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bring a large stockpot full of water with 1 tbs salt to a boil. Add lasagna one by one. Boil until al dente (about 12 – 15 minutes). Remove pasta from water.

While pasta is boiling, combine ground turkey with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground turkey and cook thoroughly, stirring occasionally, until pink color is gone (about 10 minutes). Set aside.

In a sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add shallot, garlic and mushrooms and sauté for about 10 minutes.

Add first layer of lasagna in a 9″ x 13″ baking dish. Spoon a generous layer of pasta sauce over the pasta. Next, spoon over a layer of cooked ground turkey and sautéed mushrooms. Then, sprinkle a layer of shredded mozzarella cheese (1 cup) and grated parmesan cheese (1/4 cup). Repeat layering two more times adding more cheese to the final layer.

Bake layered lasagna dish for 30 – 35 minutes or until top layer of cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling around the edges of the dish. Serve.

Yes, the title of this post sounds extremely basic. It seems obvious that if you know how to read, then you should know how to read a recipe, right? Hmmm. Reading a recipe is basic; however, there are also some tips to remember when cooking with a recipe that can help ensure success as you try out a new dish. These are some tips that I’ve learned from a few sources (a, b) and have been using for a while. I find them helpful, so I thought I’d share them with you.

Before I get started with how to read a recipe, I’d like to touch on the benefits of even using a recipe in the first place, especially if you’re a new cook. I remember attending a party several months ago and overhearing two young women talk about how they like to cook but don’t like using recipes. Based on their conversation, I gathered that they were new cooks, so I found it interesting that they both said they didn’t like cooking from recipes.

Experimentation and creativity are good, but I just don’t see how one can turn out many great dishes as a new cook not using recipes. I mean, how do you know the right amount of a particular ingredient to add in order to have a balanced taste rather than an overpowering taste? How do you know what herbs or spices go best with a particular meat or vegetable? And how do you know how high or low to keep the temperature in order to achieve your desired effect? 

These are things you learn from trying out a variety of recipes and noticing the trends of how certain ingredients and techniques are used in a way that works. Once you’ve learned the fundamentals of cooking, then you’ll have more success with your original creations. At least that’s what I’ve been told, and that’s what my experience shows.

I’m sure a new cook can come up with some tasty dishes without using a recipe, but I would image that her number of successes don’t outweigh her number of duds or mediocre dishes. But anyway, I digress. For those of you who like testing out new dishes with a little guidance and want to do away with kitchen frustration, read on.

Read the recipe carefully - Thoroughly read the recipe all the way through before you do anything.

Pay attention to details - Take notice of the order of the ingredients (usually listed in the order used). Note specific measurements and ingredient details such as “rinsed and drained,” “minced” or “roughly chopped,” or “at room temperature”. Also pay close attention to direction details.

Gather everything in place – Mise en place - Mise en place is French for “put in place”, which means to have all of your ingredients and utensils prepped and ready to use in front of you before you actually begin cooking. This will prevent frustrations like letting the oil overheat or the butter burn while you look for the garlic press or the knife to dice your onions. 

Read the recipe carefully again - After you’ve read the recipe once and gathered everything you’ll need, read the recipe once more before you actually begin cooking just to be sure that no key ingredient is missing and to increase the chances that you won’t overlook a step.

Compare and Adjust - You can do this before testing a recipe for the first time or before the second time you try a recipe. I like to compare several recipes for the same dish in order to see the different approaches people take. Then, I choose the recipe that I like best or make adjustments based on two or more recipes.

Earlier this week as I brainstormed for this post, I tried out a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis for Tuscan White Bean Soup with Ciabatta Bread. It was delicious, creamy but not too heavy, and a perfect soup for cooler weather. You can try the “How to Read a Recipe” tips using this quick recipe. I highly recommend it.

Tuscan White Bean Soup – Recipe by Giada De Laurentiis

Note: If you want a vegetarian version of this recipe, just substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth. Also, the recipe doesn’t call for salt, but I recommend salting to taste. Also, immersion blenders work like a charm.

Click here to get the recipe.

Traveling abroad is a true blessing that I’ve been able to enjoy, and I look forward to doing more of it throughout my life. I’ve found that visiting other countries and experiencing other cultures allows you to see first hand the amazing diversity and beauty of God’s creation. It allows you to experience new flavors and cuisines and leads you to more greatly appreciate your own blessings. Overseas travel can make you realize that the fundamental feelings and desires of all people really aren’t that different from one another, and therefore, the challenges and hardships of our brothers and sisters abroad become more real to you – not just something you read about or watch on television.

As a part of the Ithemba Foundation’s delegation to South Africa last November, I, along with eight others, embarked upon a journey to experience the sights, sounds, history and flavors of Johannesburg and Cape Town. Any trip to South Africa would have been great, but the icing on the cake for us was the opportunity to visit the Ithemba Foundation-funded programs that serve underprivileged South African youth. So, it was a pleasure to attend Ithemba’s annual Taste of South Africa fundraiser this past Saturday at the South African Embassy, which showcased the country’s wines, township jazz and cuisine.

During our trip last year, we toured the Tereo Mission School and one its affiliated group homes, and then we made our way to the Wallacedene Township in the Western Cape where Ithemba funds a free meals program. While it was Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. and any other year we would have been back home filling our bellies from a spread of dressing, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato pie and other Turkey-day delights, we helped serve a meal to the youth and adults of Wallacedene where a large number of the population is HIV positive and the community deals with high unemployment rates. The youth gave us a warm welcome and performance to showcase their many talents as a gift of appreciation, but of course just the opportunity to be there, especially on Thanksgiving Day, was appreciation enough.

The Ithemba Foundation’s work is definitely worthy of financial support. Aside from funding youth leadership camps, after-school programs and needed meals, Ithemba’s annual Taste of South Africa event and trips, such as the one I went on, provide opportunities to expose others to the history, culture and cuisine of South Africa. That’s a service in itself.

South Africa is known as the rainbow nation for its population’s diversity from the various African ethnic groups to the descendants of Malaysian and Indian slaves and servants to the Afrikaners, descendants of Europeans. This diversity is reflected in its cuisine of traditional foods such as steamed bread, mielies (corn-based dishes, usually porridge), root vegetables and greens to the Cape Malay cuisine reminiscent of Indian and Malaysian food to the Boerewors (grilled sausages) of the Afrikaners.

In The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa, Marcus Samuelsson mentions how mashed pumpkin is a dish often served in Soweto. So just in time for fall and the bounty of winter squash already starting to appear in supermarkets, I decided to share my version of South African Mashed Pumpkin. My recipe includes roasting the pumpkin, but you can peel it, cut it into pieces and boil or steam it just as well. It’s probably boiled in South Africa. Try serving it with other African-influenced dishes such as greens and hoppin’ john (rice and cowpeas).

If you’ve been to South Africa, leave a comment and let us know about your experience.

South African Mashed Pumpkin
Serves 4

1 two pound pie pumpkin (the small, baby pumpkins)
2 tbs of extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
1/8 tsp of ground cinnamon
1 – 2 tbs of brown sugar
1 tbs of milk
1 – 2 tbs of low-sodium vegetable broth (optional)
1 tbs of finely minced onion
3/4 tsp of salt, plus more to taste if necessary
Dash of grated nutmeg (optional)
Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut out the top of the pumpkin (as you would if you were making a jack-o-lantern). Cut pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds from each half. Brush or rub olive oil (about 1 tbs) on the cut surface of each half pumpkin.

Place both halves of the pumpkin cut side down on a cookie sheet with an unpeeled clove of garlic under each half. Roast at 375 degrees for 40 minutes (when done, pumpkin should give when pressed, soft to the touch). Remove pumpkin from oven and allow to cool.

After pumpkin is cool enough to handle, heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a sauce pan and sauté minced onions for about two minutes over medium heat. Scoop out the flesh of the roasted pumpkin from the skin and into the sauce pan. Peel the cloves of soft roasted garlic, chop and add to the pan along with the brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, broth (optional), nutmeg (optional), salt and pepper. Mash and mix all ingredients well. Taste for seasoning.