Plantains, Cod, and Greens

I love dried cod (Okporoko) with a passion! It's in my Igbo DNA. I don't think any soup is complete without it. It has a unique smell (phew) and taste. I love it so much that it's a snack food for me sometimes.

This recipe was easy to make, and the cod paired very well with the greens and plantains. Don't take my word for it, just make it and see!

This recipe is fertility-friendly, pregnancy-friendly, lactation-friendly, and can be adapted to be kid-friendly (use mashed ripe plantains instead).

Ingredients

4 medium green plantains
300g dried cod
1 medium red onion, sliced
3 large tomatoes, diced
5 atarodo (habanero), diced
500g Amaranth leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons of almond oil
1 tablespoon of curry powder
Double stock cube
1 teaspoon of salt

Method

Soften and wash the cod by soaking in boiling water for 10 minutes. Rinse well with cold water.

Boil the plantains with their skins on (just easier to peel the skins off after boiling, thanks for the tip mum!) till done, about 20 minutes. Peel, dice and set aside.

To a wok on medium-high heat, add almond oil. Leave for 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes, pepper, onions, and curry powder. Stir fry for 5 minutes. Add the plantains and cod. Stir for 1 minute.

Add the amaranth leaves, stock cube and salt. Stir to combine. Cook for 3 minutes.

Serve and enjoy

Remember, it's sooo good for you,
Deema.

Bulgur and Spinach Pottage

I've already written about the nutritional value of Bulgur and why it's a good addition to a fertility diet. Please read about it here.

Spinach is virtually a super food, remember Popeye? Consumption of spinach in moderation is a must for a fertility diet. Spinach is full of folate, zinc, iron and antioxidants. I'm sure y'all know what that means. Not only is this recipe fertility-friendly, it's actually quite beneficial to pregnant and nursing women as well.

This recipe is yummy, the pairing of the spinach and the bulgur is a match made in heaven (Deema, u like food sha!). Please use boneless fish, that's very important. I used swak, but you can use anything you like.

Ingredients

1 cup of bulgur
400g of fresh spinach
1 1/2 cups of sliced button mushrooms
1 red onion, sliced
4 fish fillets, steamed
3 tablespoons of freshly blended atarodo (habanero)
1 Knorr double stock cube
2 cloves of garlic, diced
2 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon of salt

Method

Flake the steamed fish with a fork. In a pot on medium-high heat, add 3 cups of water. Add the butter and the stock cubes. Bring it to a boil, add the bulgur. Simmer for 3 minutes, then turn off the heat to allow the bulgur soak up the liquid.

In another pot, put the spinach. Set the pot over medium-low heat. Leave the spinach to cook down, then add the onions, mushrooms, salt, garlic, pepper and fish. Stir and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the bulgur and stir to combine. Leave to cook for 2 more minutes. Serve...

Remember,
It's sooo good for you!

Deema

Coconut Jollof Rice and Cowtail Gravy.

I'm an unrepentant foodie to the core! If loving good food is a crime, please lock me up and throw away the keys (don't even bother with a trial). This recipe examplifies my love of food.

I just had to find a way to combine two wholesome, tasty meals into one healthy, delicious, fertility-friendly meal. If you aren't like me, you can serve your cowtails with white rice, couscous, bulgur, pretty much anything you like. Or you can serve the rice with fish or chicken.

Now, to the nutrition...did you know that bone broth is a 'treatment' for infertility? Well, neither did I, until I started eating this way. Apparently, when bones are cooked down, all the nutrients from the bone marrow-calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc- seep into the broth, making it one of the most nutrient-dense foods you can consume.

Bone broth, while being good for all men and women who are trying to conceive, is particularly helpful for women who have PCOS, as the nutrients in the bone marrow promote thyroid health.

If I still haven't piqued your interest with all the above, I'm sure I will now- the gelatin in bone broth is proven to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and cellulite. AHA! I've got you now! I can see you rushing to your freezer to bring out ALL the bones you have...cool down!

I chose cowtails because they contain more gelatin and juicy marrow than most bony cuts of meat.

Extra: in your quest for bone broth, pepper soup is fine! You can use chicken bones, cow, goat, anything!

Nutrition aside, this meal is hecka tasty...you're making it, period!



Ingredients for Cowtail Gravy

1.5 kg of cowtail, cut into 2-inch chunks.
2 juicy tomatoes, diced
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of freshly ground atarodo (habanero)
2 tablespoons of freshly ground onions
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds, ground
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of dried basil
1 14oz can of chickpeas, rinsed (totally optional!)
1/2 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce (optional)
2 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons of cornflour, mixed with 2 tablespoons of water to make a slurry


Coconut Jollof Rice

3 cups of rice, washed and parboiled
3 tablespoons of coconut oil
3 tablespoons of freshly ground atarodo(habanero) and onions
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
5 cups of coconut milk
2 Knorr double stock cubes
1 teaspoons of salt
1 bay leaf


Method-Cowtail Gravy

Place the cowtails in a pressure cooker on medium-high heat. Add all ingredients except chickpeas and carrots. Add enough water to just cover the cowtails. Cover and cook for 45 minutes.

Open the pot after letting the pressure come down (don't cover the pot again!). Reduce heat to medium-low, add the carrots. Cook for 3 minutes. Add the chickpeas and the cornstarch slurry. Simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.


Coconut Jollof Rice

To a pot on medium-high heat, add the oil. After 30 seconds, add the tomatoes, pepper paste and bay leaf. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
Pour the coconut milk in. Add salt and stock cubes. Stir and bring to boil.
Pour in the parboiled rice. Cook till all the water is gone. Fluff with a fork and remove from heat. Serve with cowtail gravy and YUM!

Enjoy, and remember,
it's sooo good for you!

Deema

Poultry and Vegetable Sunday Bake

I told you before: I suck at naming recipes. Let's not even get into that now! Just know that this recipe is chockfull of vegetables and poultry (chicken and turkey, because I didn't have enough of either to cater to guests I had coming over).

I used to avoid eggplants like the plague before I started this fertility diet. The only way you could get me to eat eggplant was with a trailer load of peanut butter. Then I started my research on this diet and found that, in some places there's a 'remedy for infertility' which has milk and eggplant as its ingredients. That made me take another look at eggplants, and I realise that, cooked right, they actually make for delightful eating.

Eggplants are rich in antioxidants which help to lower LDL cholesterol. They are also rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and folate. We all know how beneficial those are to men and women who are trying to conceive.

This recipe is perfect for having guests over on a Sunday. Just prep the veggies, toss into a baking dish, throw in the oven, set an alarm and go take a nap (no, not really, because you have to baste the meat after about 30 minutes in the oven).

Ingredients

1 1/2kg of chicken or turkey (or a mix like mine), cut up.
1 large eggplant
1 medium leek (cut off the green part)
3 large tomatoes, sliced into rounds
4 large carrots, sliced into rounds
1 large red onion, sliced into rounds
300g of green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces (or however you like them)
10 atarodo peppers (habanero), blended
2 Knorr double stock cubes
2 tablespoons of salt, divided
2 teaspoons of curry powder, divided
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 tablespoons of coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350. Slice the eggplant and leek. In a bowl, put the oil, 1 double stock cube, 1 teaspoon of curry powder, and 1/2tablespoon of salt. Mix well, and add the eggplant, leek, onions, carrots, and green beans. Stir to coat well. Pour into a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Ensure that the veggies line the pan evenly.

To the same bowl in which you mixed the vegetables, add the blended pepper, 1 double stock cube, thyme, 1 teaspoon of curry powder, and 1 1/2 tablespoon of salt. Mix well. Remove 4 tablespoons of the pepper sauce and reserve. Add the meat to the bowl, stir to coat and leave aside for 10 minutes. Then place the meat on top of the vegetable bed in the baking dish. Arrange the tomatoes on top of the meat and bake for 1 hour, baste the meat after 30 minutes with the reserved pepper sauce.

To make a sauce for rice, after the meat is done, pour the liquid from the baking pan into a pot. Add a slurry of cornstarch and water and simmer for 3 minutes. Serve over the vegetables and meat.

Enjoy, and remember,
It's sooo good for you!

Deema

Peppery Tilapia and Garlic Butter Pasta

I'm sure if I ask you guys what my favourite fish is, your answer would most certainly be Tilapia. Well, that answer would most certainly be wrong!!! Lol! It's actually salmon but I do love the mild taste of Tilapia.

I haven't featured salmon recipes yet because salmon is hard for me to get here. I get 2 cartons of salmon 3 times a year, and I always run out before my next supply. Tilapia is my next best fish, and it's so much easier to get. In fact, at any given time, you can find Tilapia in my freezer.

I like Tilapia with lots of chili. The pasta in this recipe is very mildly spiced, so I find the Peppery heat of the Tilapia cuts through the mild pasta for a very delicious dish fit for the Nigerian palate.

This serves 4
Ingredients

Peppery Tilapia

8 Tilapia steaks
4 tablespoons of blended atarodo (scotch bonnet variety)
2 inch piece of ginger
4 cloves of garlic
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 Knorr double stock cube
1 bunch of spring onions, chopped (green part only)
1 teaspoon of dill
2 teaspoons of dried basil
1 teaspoon of salt

Pasta

250g of Pasta (I used twist macaroni)
3 tablespoons of softened butter
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 cups of green beans, chopped
1 teaspoon of salt

Method

Peppery Tilapia
Blend the ginger, garlic and dill with 4 tablespoons of water. In a bowl, combine the blended mixture with the onions, stock cube, salt, pepper, spring onions and dried basil.
Grease a baking sheet. Place the fish on the sheet and pour the mixture over. Use a toothpick and poke the fish to allow the mixture seep in. Bake for 30 minutes at 350.

Pasta
Boil pasta for 7 minutes and drain. In a wok on high heat, melt the butter. Add the chopped garlic and green beans. Stir for 2 minutes. Add the drained pasta and salt. Stir and cover. Leave to cook for 2 minutes. Serve with Tilapia

If I can, you can,

Deema

Chicken and Vegtable Stew

This is a very hearty stew. I eat this as a meal in itself. Dh prefers it with rice (then again, he prefers EVERYTHING with rice). A steaming bowl of this stew and unlimited comedies make for a perfect Sunday for me. Try it, who knows? It might become your favourite way to spend your Sundays too.

This serves 3

Ingredients

2 whole chicken breasts, chopped
2 cups of chopped cauliflower
1 cup of sliced carrots
1/3 cup of parsley, chopped
1 small bunch of spring onions, chopped (green part only)
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon of thyme
1 Knorr double stock cube
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water.

Method

In a wok on medium-low heat, add olive oil. Add the chicken and stock cube. Stir fry till chicken is no longer pink. Add the carrots and cauliflower. Stir. Add cayenne, coriander, thyme, garlic powder, spring onions and parsley. Pour in 3 cups of water. Cover and increase heat to medium-high. Leave to cook for 3 minutes. Add the cornstarch mixture. Simmer for 1 minute. Serve alone, or (if you're like my Hubby) with rice.

If I can, you can,

Deema

Chicken Noodle Lettuce Wrap

Sometimes you want a messy meal (or am I just a slob?); when I want a messy meal, I reach for lettuce or cabbages, and I make a simple wrap. This recipe is not served as a wrap; the eater forms the wrap before eating cos it's served sans cutlery.

To eat, you wrap the lettuce around the filling. There's really not much more to say about this except DO NOT WEAR WHITE!

This recipe serves 3
Ingredients

2 whole chicken breasts, cubed
1 small red onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 packs of Indomie Noodles
1 tablespoon of Cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 head of lettuce, separated

Method
Boil and detain the noodles according to package instructions.
In a wok on low heat, add olive oil and sautee the onions and garlic for 2 minutes.
Add the chicken breasts and stir fry till chicken is no longer pink.
Add the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and cayenne pepper.
Stir and taste for salt.
Add the drained noodles and toss to combine. Serve on lettuce beds, no cutlery allowed!

If I can, you can,

Deema