FOOD FRIDAY: NIGERIAN VEGETABLE SAUCE

It's been a while since I wrote anything on food, so, I thought I might do so today, today been Friday and all. Today, another Nigerian dish is stewing on the stove and I thought I might share it with you. I am a food lover! My friends and relatives always wonder where all the food I eat end up. Lol!!! Since getting married though, my love for experimenting with food has doubled mostly because the darling man also loves whatever my experiments yield.

So back to the crust for the day; the Nigerian vegetable sauce. I have written on something similar but this one has a different taste to it because I changed one ingredient.

INGREDIENTS:

• Fresh tomatoes
• Fresh pepper
• Onions

• Fish (preferably dried or smoked)

• Groundnut or vegetable oil (low cholesterol)
• Crayfish

• Vegetables (pumpkin or green leaf), spinach would also do just fine.

• Seasoning cubes and
• Salt

HOW TO PREPARE:

First of all, get all your ingredients washed and prepared. Chop up the tomatoes and Onions. You can either grind the fresh pepper or chop it up. To avoid the pepper getting into your eyes after chopping it up, I usually advice you use grounded or blended pepper. It can be very difficult washing the peppery stuff off your hands. (This actually happened to me, it wasn't funny). Also grind the crayfish, and per-boil the dried fish. 

Place your saucepan on the burner and allow to dry. Add about 50ml (1 cooking spoonful) of the vegetable oil and allow it to heat up. (Please allow the pan to dry before adding the oil unless you want to suddenly become kung-fu fighter, dodging the splashes of hot water). After the oil has heated up a bit, add your onions, (garlic, if you like), crayfish and stir. Add the fresh pepper and fresh tomatoes. Personally, I allow these to dry up a bit too. (I don't like soggy tomatoes). Then, add the fish and stir.

Add your seasoning and salt to taste, then add the vegetables. If you are using spinach, you may not allow it dry, because if you do you might be losing the nutrients that the other ingredients have to offer. Stir your mixture, allow the vegetables to soften up a bit and you are done.

Best served with yam or plantain (fried or boil) or rice.

Enjoy....