3 Light Dishes from Equatorial Africa 🌞

Senegalese Chicken Salad



Chicken Salad is a refreshing and flavourful dish that reflects the diverse
and vibrant culinary traditions of Senegal, a West African country known
for its rich and aromatic cuisine. This salad combines tender, seasoned
chicken with a medley of fresh vegetables and a zesty dressing, creating
a well-balanced and satisfying meal.

Chicken Salad is not only a delicious and healthy option but also a versatile
dish that can be enjoyed on its own as a light meal or as a side dish
accompanying other main courses. Whether served at family gatherings or
enjoyed during casual meals, this salad embodies the freshness, diversity,
and communal spirit of Senegalese cuisine.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed
2 cups mixed salad greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula, etc.)
1 cucumber, sliced
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup chopped red onions
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped parsley for garnish

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the shredded or cubed chicken, mixed salad greens,
sliced cucumber, sliced bell pepper, diced tomatoes, and chopped red onions.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil to create the
dressing. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Drizzle the dressing over the salad ingredients and toss gently to combine
everything evenly.

4. Serve the Chicken Salad immediately as a refreshing main course or side dish.

5. Garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

From "Lactose-Free Senegal"
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/lactose-free-senegal

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Plain Light Soup
Nkrakra (Ghana)



Makes 4 to 6 servings

This is a basic recipe for a clear broth based on water (or stock),
tomatoes, chili pepper, onion, and salt, enhanced as desired by spices
(garlic, ginger, herbs, etc.) as well as vegetables, bones, or a little meat,
chicken, or fish. It is a soothing recipe and considered a good soup for those
who are ill or weak. Much more recently, it is seen as an appropriate soup
for a first course.

Ingredients

3 medium tomatoes
1 medium onion or a few shallots, coarsely chopped
½ to 1 teaspoon dried ground red pepper (or to taste), or chopped fresh
chili pepper equivalent in heat
6 cups water or stock
1 teaspoon salt or seasoned salt (or to taste)
Optional seasonings to taste
2 cloves garlic1-inch piece fresh ginger, coarsely chopped
Chopped herbs like thyme, basil, akoko besa, etc.

Optional ingredients

1 small eggplant or 3 garden eggs, peeled and cut in large chunks
½ pound meat of choice or chicken cut into chunks; or fresh fish, skin
and bones removed; and/or soup bones (up to 1 pound)
2 tablespoons tomato paste

Directions

1. Grind the tomatoes, onion or shallots, dried or fresh chili pepper,
and other optional seasonings with 1 cup of water in an electric blender
about 45 to 60 seconds.

2. Pour in a soup pot with 5 cups of water or stock, and salt to taste
and bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer. If using soup bones, add
them to the pot at this point along with eggplant and any meat or poultry, if
using. Stir in tomato paste, if desired.

3. Simmer mixture until meat and poultry are tender. (If using
eggplant, remove it when soft; remove the skins and puree in a blender;
return to the soup pot when the meat or poultry is almost tender.)

4. If using fish, break it into pieces and add to the soup about 15
minutes before serving the soup. Remove any bones before serving.
To serve: May be served alone or with any preferred starch.

Variations:

Thicken the soup by cooking a starch, like peeled yam or plantain or
potato, and adding some of the liquid in which the starch was cooked to the
soup (or cook the slices right in the soup).

A little freshly pounded fufu (not the powder version) is also
sometimes added.

Add additional meat, chicken, or fish.
Include smoked fish or ground shrimps as an additional seasoning.

7. Serve the Bean Couscous by spooning the bean and vegetable mixture over the
prepared couscous.

8. Garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro before serving.

from "The Ghana Cookbook"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27313468-the-ghana-cookbook

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Salade méchouïa
Tunisian grilled vegetable salad with tuna



active prep time: 5-10mins |
inactive prep time: 10min |
cook time: 25-30 mins
serves 6



1kg (2.2lbs) red and green cubanelle peppers
4 tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
olive oil to taste
salt/black pepper
harissa to taste


Decoration: boiled eggs, tuna, black olives.


Grill peppers on the stove, tabouna or barbecue. Optionally you can
roast the vegetables in the oven, but it will be missing the grilled
flavour essential to this salad.

Turn the vegetables regularly until the skin is blackened and blistered
in spots. Place the peppers in a plastic bag, tie a knot and let it cool
so that the skin comes off.

Meanwhile, put the whole tomatoes to grill.
Cook until skin is blackened on both sides.

Also made ​​grill whole garlic cloves with skin, threaded on a skewer
so they will not fall into the fire. These must be well soft. Be careful
though not to char them.

Remove the skin and seeds from the tomatoes. Then proceed to
peel the peppers, then remove the seeds, and ribs inside.

Peel the garlic cloves.

Traditionally a mortar and pestle were used to smash the vegetable
into a chunky pureé. Nowadays you can use a robocoupe (food
processor) to do the job. Or optionally chop as I did.

Mix all vegetables in a bowl.
Reseason to your taste, add a generous drizzle of olive oil and mix everything.
Refresh then refrigerate several hours.

Serve with the tuna, boiled eggs and black olives for garnish.

Storage- Wise

This salad can be premade days in advance for parties or even Ramadan iftars. Just make sure after you
have prepared the salad, you place it in a air- tight container. And optionally, you can roast the peppers
and store them in oil, until you need to use them.

from https://thetealtadjine.blogspot.com/2012/07/salade-mechouia-tunisian-grilled.html

Enjoy these hot-weather dishes!