Black eyed peas with spinach and fried plantains

One of my favorite dishes in Ghana was Red Red - black eyed peas and fried ripe plantain. The peas would be doused with an unhealthy amount of red palm oil, giving rise to the name red red for the color of the peas and plantains. Unhealthy, but so delicious! It's common street food, and I would usually request no oil. I figured it was a trade-off since I ate it at least once a week.


On a recent trip to the farmer's market, I saw the plantains and immediately started craving red red. It's one of the dishes that immediately takes me back to a wonderful place. It combines something I know well from my childhood growing up in the South - black eyed peas - with an exotic, new fruit that I discovered my love for as an adult.

I let the plantain ripened several more days. For it to be sweet, it needs to be really ripe, almost black. I cut it in one-inch pieces and added some spices - ginger, chili powder, and salt - before frying. The spices help to bring out and balance the sweetness of the plantain.

While this was frying, I boiled half a bag of frozen black eyed peas and half a bag of frozen spinach. I added salt and pepper to taste, and let the peas boil down to a nice consistency.
I had to keep myself from eating the whole pan! Of course, I ate all of the plantain. There was a reason I only got one! I cut up a sweet potato into cubes and fried it to go along with the peas for lunch later in the week. It worked well but nothing beats fried plantain!

twd ~ Tropical Crumble

I've been fighting with my laptop for the past 45 minutes. It doesn't want to type. It tells me I am holding down the control button, even when I raise both hands above my head and wave a white flag.



What I really don't want to do is get on the phone with tech support people. How long will it take? Will it be under my warranty? If I keep banging around on this thing will it suddenly start working again?

I'm hoping it keeps behaving long enough to make my post. Hey, it's almost midnight.

The tropical crumble, on the other hand, was not a problem at all. It was simple and easy, and turned out to be quite delicious.



I made a few substitutions. I used almonds instead of pecans, and orange zest instead of lime. I added just a little coconut to the topping, and a smidgen of whipped cream at the end. The cream quickly melted, but blended nicely with the fruit anyway.



I've fallen off exercising lately, and finally put in a good 6 miles this evening so I didn't feel too bad about eating this straight from the oven at 10pm. It was too perfect at the park not to enjoy it! I saw a film crew doing scenes for the movie What to Expect When You're Expecting. Chris Rock was the only one I could really recognize or hear.

Thanks to Gaye at Laws of the Kitchen for this week's pick!

Something take my hunger away please!

I've been constantly hungry lately. I don't know why, and I'm not very happy about it. I like feeling satisfied with good food, and as much as I love eating, I don't actually want to do it all the time. Plus, I don't really want to gain weight. I would prefer the scale to move in the opposite direction.

So I considered what I had been eating and thought I might need a power meal...or actual food. Something with lots of good things in it, and didn't come in the shape of a bar or its own bowl. I was craving sweet potatoes, so I started there, slicing them and putting them in the over until almost done. They were easily punctured, but needed another five minutes or so to be completely tender.

While these were baking, I put on a pan of black-eyedpeas with some sundried tomatoes, salt and pepper. I added some frozen spinach because a healthy meal needs something green right?

I diced the sweet potatoes and added them, cooking for about 15 minutes to give the potatoes a chance to finish cooking and all the flavors to blend.

To finish, I added some hard cheese and devoured. I'm not sure it helped the hunger in the long run, but it certainly was good.

As I'm writing this post, I can't help but think of the situation in Somalia, and all the people seeking refuge from the famine in places like Dadaab, Kenya. God bless the women and children who are walking hundreds of miles in search of life sustaining nourishment. The organization I work for has a prescence in Dadaab, and the reports are heart wrenching but hopeful.

twd ~ Carrot Spice Muffins & Banana Peach Brekkie

I love baked goods packed with little treasures - carrots, nuts, seeds, raisins - each bite brings a new combination of tastes. I love Morning Glory muffins and always am tempted when I see one sitting in a pastry case, regardless if it's morning, noon, or night.

These carrot spice muffins are no disappointment. In fact, they are too darn good. The are moist and packed with some of my favorites - carrots, coconut, ginger, cinnamon, walnuts, and raisins! Now that's a mouthful.

I used half whole wheat flour and half white, which worked well. For breakfast, it's hard to eat just one delicious muffin so I paired it with my new favorite fruit combination. One lovely, ripe Georgia peach + one banana + a spoonful of sunflower seeds + a little bit of whipping cream poured over = yummers!

Thanks to Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs for this week's pick. Head over to her blog for the recipe.

Quinoa Salad

It's Sunday night. I just got home from my first swing dance lesson. It was a lot of fun. We learned the basic quick-quick-slow--slow steps. We switched partners throughout the class. It's amazing how much difference it makes when you're dancing with an experiened lead! I felt so cool with the instructors and totally lost with other students. I'm hoping to work up to the weekly group dances. Not yet, though. I need a little (a lot) more practice!

Since I was mostly taking small steps around, it wasn't too taxing. I realized that if I didn't make dinner, I wouldn't have leftovers for the week at work. I've already got dinner plans Monday and Tuesday with some girlfriends, so I want something filling but healthy and low calorie for lunch.

Quinoa is a great grain, especially for vegetarians, because it has protein. Enter something green and some spices and it's a meal.

Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa

sundried tomato strips

1 Tablespoon sunflower seeds

2 Tablespoons raisins

1 can 28 oz green beans

Caesar dressing (~1/2-1 Tablespoon)

salt and pepper to taste

Put dry quinoa, sundried tomatos, seeds, and raisins in a pan with 2 cups of water. Add salt. Bring to a boil and let cook about 20 minutes, or until the quinoa is done.

Add pepper and green beans. Stir. Add dressing and stir well.

Can be served hot or cold.

CNN's world's 50 most delicious foods: What? No kelewele?

I'm not sure how CNN came up with the world's 50 most delicious foods. I feel like I have a new favorite, most delicious food everytime I go to a new country or try a new ethnic restaurant. I am glad to see lots of Asian, including Thai and Indian, on the list. The way they use spices...they've got something there.

What's the food I really want to see on the list?
Kelewele = fried, spiced plantain

Picture source

When I was in Ghana, kelewele could be a whole dinner. By the time I got home with it, the newspaper it was wrapped in would be completely clear from the oil. That made me feel a little better about eating a deep-fried dinner - a little less fat and oil to eat! I've tried unsuccessfully to make it in the U.S. Perhaps it's time for another try!