It is still early in the year and the time we set all our health goals and dream of how much weight we will lose and be healthy. Lofty goals and I do hope you are able to follow through.
However, maybe to do better this year than you did in 2013, you need to first take a good look at your 2013 and do a deliberate review of how you followed through.
I find that reviewing the previous goals help in the following ways:
Measure my progress through the last year.
Opens my eyes to the stuff that didn’t work for me so I can stay away from them.
Highlight for me the things I did that were beneficial so I can do more of those this year.
Give me the impetus to celebrate my successes and that is enough motivation for the new set of goals.
No matter how little progress you made, I dare say well done girl, you have come a long way; at least you know and have acknowledged the fact that you need to change and that is a good place to start.
While you are at it, try my delicious Moi Moi wrapped in Cabbage for a start.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Brown black eye Beans (washed and peeled)
- 1/2 cup flaked steamed Mackerel Fish
- 1/2 cup diced Fresh Shrimps
- 2 cooking spoons Tomato/Pepper blend
- 1 teaspoon Ginger paste
- 2 cooking spoons vegetable oil
- Crayfish seasoning to taste
- Salt to taste
- Cabbage leaves for wrapping
Method
- Blend the beans till smooth with very little water. A good tip is to wash your beans the night before, soak in water and leave in the fridge, and it will be easy on your blender.
- Heat the oil, fry the onion, tomato/ pepper. Add the fish, shrimp and seasoning. Taste for salt and correct seasoning. Cook the stew until tomato sourness goes off.
- Pour the stew into the ground beans, add the ginger and mix well.
- Add a little water to beans if too thick. Consistency should not be runny either.
- Peel off Cabbage leaves and wash. Use large cabbage leaves to make wrapping easy.
- Cut up strings to use in tying each Moin Moin parcel.
- Scoop Moin Moin mix onto cabbage leaves. Fold upthe thick part up and fold down the soft upper side. Tuck in the sides to close up the parcel and tie gently with the strings.
- Place on a steamer and steam without letting water touch the parcels directly. Allow to cook for about 45 minutes
- Take out parcels, allow to cool a bit and serve with the cabbage leaves
- You may want to pair the Moin Moin with tea or Ogi.
Cooking tip: It is important that the cabbage parcels are cooked with steam and not dipped in water. Whist you may not have the Chinese vegetable and rice steamer, you can sufficiently raise your Moin Moin out of water by placing the parcels on a raised platform in the pot. Add water a little at a time.
MoinMoin is one of those widely consumed Nigerian dishes. Goes well with pap, rice, drinking garri etc. When you are thinking of light in the Nigerian sense, this is one dish to aim for. Wrapping Moin Moin in leaves is something I learnt as a very young girl…How could you not with a mum like mine….Mma bless you, but those moments of grinding the beans on a grinding stone was not fun at all! So I really do like the versions wrapped in leaves but I hate the part of unwrapping the cooked Moin Moin from the leaves and the mess it makes.
However, that is not really the point of going the cabbage route. To be honest, I was just looking for something fresh to do with beans. It turns out that I have Moin Moin that also has vegetables in it; thereby giving me more fibre. And guess what, I can hold the Moin Moin and have it as Sharwama without soiling my hands. Above all, it is simply pretty. Enjoy!
Recipe brought to you by 1Q Food Platter
Email: i.q_ukoh@yahoo.co.uk / Twitter: @savouryqueen / Facebook: facebook.com/1qFoodPlatter / Website: www.1qfoodplatter.com