we did African again

One week after we went to Africa, we did it again.

(Not really, but it’s cute to say it that way.)

Anyway, I made another African Stew–this one with winter squash and chickpeas.

In short, Andrew and I both preferred the first one (with the sweet potatoes and red beans), although Andrew said he’d rather have chickpeas than red beans. I can make that swap, I suppose…

I also tried out a recipe for wheat pita bread. It definitely puffed, just like it said it would, although the top layer was paper-thin. Not sure how to make it more half and half… Served with dates.

And citrus salad with mint.

to Africa and back

Awhile ago (as in, I don’t even remember how long ago), my friend Regina (at least I think that’s who it was) recommended a recipe for a sweet potato stew to me. I don’t even remember why she thought to tell me about it. I’m just all sorts of forgetful these days, aren’t I?!

Anyway, the recipe for African Sweet Potato Stew with Red Beans has been in my to-make pile for awhile, and I thought it would be perfect for Meatless Monday this week. (Except that we ate it tonight, which is indeed Tuesday, but whatever. It’s the thought that counts.)

I’ll admit, I didn’t have super high hopes that Andrew would like this dish. It has beans in it, after all.

So you can imagine my surprise when he announced that, in fact, he did like it. According to him, the red beans “didn’t ruin in by making it too dry.”

In fact, “You can’t even taste them,” he said. Whatever works, right?

To go with it, I made Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day’s ‘Msemmen,’ which is an Algerian flatbread. I thought it would go nicely. It was super easy and absolutely amazing. Basically, you make their basic dough recipe, roll it out, spread a spice mixture on it as if it were pizza, then you roll the dough into a log and swirl it into a cinnamon roll shape before letting it rest for 20 minutes. After that, you simply roll it out again, which causes the spice mixture to create layers in the dough. Then, pan-fry in a skillet.

The stew is slightly sweet with just a bit of a kick. Serve with lime wedges and chopped peanuts!

what i made this weekend

Before I get too far, remember that salmon, broccoli carpaccio and wild rice I was supposed to make for Valentine’s Day?

It was dinner Friday.

If you’ve ever wondered what to do with all those broccoli stalks you have left after cutting off the florets, here is your recipe.

And, I’d been waiting to make this Maple Bacon Biscuit Bake for like, EVER. It’s a King Arthur Flour recipe that caught my eye a long time ago.

I mean, it was bacon, with maple syrup and brown sugar and butter—all mixed together! It’s kind-of an upside-down thing; you put the bacon mixture in the pan first, then top with biscuit dough dropped by the tablespoonfuls. On a second go-round (and there will be one), two things: 1) less biscuit-to-bacon mix ratio (more gooey goodness needed) and 2) definitely heed the directions to flip the pan over IMMEDIATELY. I accidentally let it sit for too long and the syrupy mix started to harden. Sad.

And can you believe Andrew said he was “scared” he would get this instead of monkey bread in the future? Scared. REALLY?!?! Who says that?!

I don’t know if he can dig himself out of THAT hole, but he started tonight when he said he liked what I made for dinner–Chicken Artichoke Lasagna. I was kind of shocked, actually. Andrew’s not a huge fan of artichokes, but I really wanted to make it and after going through the usual checklist (cheese? no. olives? no. mushrooms? no. beans? no.), I figured I’d give it a try. I didn’t take a photo, but it turned out quite well. In fact, it’s already in the “favorites” binder. I don’t know that I can say it was fantastic, but it was good and different and easy.