Sweet Plantain Eggless Quiche Cups

I love making protein and carb-based patties and muffins to go with meals or to eat on the go or as a snack. The base is always sweet potato and quinoa with a variety of peas and veggies to change up the flavour.

This variety of my specialty has a sweet plantain flavour that goes amazing with dinner.
I call it a quiche because I see it as a substitute for such. It makes a great appetizer for your Ital dinner party.

You will need:

1 ripe but not gooey- soft plantain
1 cup cooked quinoa (1.2 cup uncooked grain)
2 small sweet potatoes
½ sweet pepper
½ onion
2 cloves garlic
Small piece ginger
1 tomato
3 pimento peppers
½ carrot
1 slice pumpkin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp flax meal
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp Italian seasoning
5 tsp any type of flour
Coconut oil



Method:

Cook quinoa and sweet potato and cool.

Using a fine grater, grate carrot, garlic, ginger and pumpkin.

With large hole grater, grate ¼ of plantain and place into same bowl as above ingredients.

Finely chop onion, pimento, tomato and sweet pepper and combine with above ingredients.

Add the salt, turmeric, Italian seasoning, flax meal and flour.

Blend up the rest of the plantain with some coconut oil until it is mushy but not whipped perfectly into a liquid.

Mash the sweet potato and along with quinoa add to the bowl of fresh ingredients.

Mix everything well.

Oil two muffin trays with coconut oil and scoop the mixture into each one, flattening nicely in.

Allow to bake for half hour or until well browned.

Allow to fully cool before removing from trays using a spoon to disengage.

Serve warm.

grated plantain and veggies

 total mixture

Full joy!
And please do tag us @italpeople on Instagram!

Ila

Sour Sop Smoothie

A simple Smoothie that is quite delicious!
I am fortunate to have a bredren whose sour sop tree is only now bearing so that I can fulljoy some after summer.

I made this quick Smoothie the last two mornings:

1/2 cup sour sop flesh
1 apple peeled
3 bananas (also from his tree)
1 handful frozen pineapple cubes
3/4 cup water
1/2 thumb ginger

Blend it all together!
Mmmmmm good!

Ila

Veggie Pasta Soup

Today I made this thick tummy-filling vegetable soup and decided to share the recipe immediately as I finished eating :)

This one is for all my Rastafari family in the US or Europe enduring the winter or across the Caribbean enduring these chilly nights and rainy days we've been having.

Of course you can add whatever vegetables you wish, but this is just what I had in the kitchen.

You will Need:


1/8 cup basmati brown rice (optional if you will use pasta, mine boiled out in the base)
1 cup penne or other pasta
3 big potatoes, diced
1 sweet potato, diced
1 small christophene/chayote, diced
1/4 cabbage, chopped
i handful broccoli, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup diced pumpkin
1 onion, chopped
2 pimentos, chopped
1 handful of chive stalks, chopped
2 shadon beni leaves, chopped
4 cloves garlic, grated
1 thumb ginger, grated
1.5 cup red lentils
1 cup chickpeas precooked! or 1 can

(you can also add green beans or zucchini or squash)

to season:
ground turmeric and cumin, pink salt, 1 spoonful tomato paste.

Method:

Prepare and chop all ingredients as mentioned in list.

Wash red lentils and rice and place in your soup pot with boiling water.

Add prepared onion, chive, shadon beni, garlic, ginger to that.

When red lentils become soft add potatoes.

(Add more water as necessary throughout.)

When the potatoes are cooked in another 10 minutes, add all your vegetables: celery, broccoli, pumpkin, cabbage, christophene/chayote and cooked chick peas.

Allow all these vegetables to cook for another ten minutes.

Add the turmeric, cumin, pink salt and tomato paste. I usually add about 1.5 tsp of each. And then add more salt as needed.

Allow soup to cool considerably before adding more seasonings to taste. Then serve with a nice hot sauce and some sprouts if you wish.

And there you have it!
I hope you try it and full joy

Ila Addis

Chickpea/Channa Salad aka The Meat Beater Salad

 

This salad is perfect for someone who is trying to wean off of meat – especially fish! The combination of arugula, chick peas, lime and red onion gives it a flavour that reminds me of canned tuna. Adding the sweet potato makes a great flavour combination for the salad, and when you add the quinoa it reduces the potency of the tuna-ish flavour but allows you to become quite full.

I don't eat any type of animal, and truly although many Rastafari eat fish today, I advise against it because the sea is heavily polluted, and like any other type of flesh, fish carry worms which then inhabit the hueman body.

To make the Meat Beater Salad you will need:

3 tomatoes cubed

1 big cucumber cubed

1 handful (6-7) arugula/rocket leaves shredded

3-4 pakchoi leaves or 1 small head shredded

1-2 big leaves kale shredded

1 stalk celery finely chopped

1 pimento finely chopped

1 small piece of red onion finely chopped

½ cup chickpeas 

Toppings:

Sprinkle pumpkin seeds  and grated coconut

Sweet n Sour Dressing:

Drizzles of Agave nectar (or honey if you wish)

Half lime freshly squeezed

Couple dashes of seasoning salt or pink salt

Add ingredients directly onto salad and mix into salad

Other options to make a heavier meal out of this a salad: ½ cup cooked quinoa or 1 small sweet potato.

I eat this salad regularly, a few times a week, Not because I crave fish, as I haven't had it in ten years, but because it is just to full of flavour and contains basic ingredients that I always have at home. It's my go-to salad! It is safe for the womb and wont induce cramps as well.  I really love it and I hope you all will too!

 Here is a variation with Roland's Three Continent Blend of rice and quinoa:

Plain version without grains or sweet potato:

Basic Womb Salad and Avocado Basil Dressing

This salad is perfect for cleansing the womb and preparing for your monthly cycle. It is good to eat during and after the cycle to replenish and strengthen the womb.

You will need:

1  beet, grated or spiralized (beetles)
3-4 tomatoes, diced
1 large cucumber, diced
1-2 leaves kale, shredded
3 leaves lettuce, shredded by hand
3 leaves pakchoy, shredded
¼ cup purple cabbage
3 okras, diced into circles
1 pimento, diced
1 bunch parsley, shredded
4 leaves chive, diced
1 bunch of basil, shredded by hand
1 handful dandelion greens if possible.
1 cup or handful sprouts or micro greens

Not pictured here sprinkle with a handful of pumpkin seeds which have vital nutrients for the womb


Make sure to wash your veggies carefully with vinegar or which ever method you choose. See post here on cleaning veggies properly. Chop everything and combine in your big salad bowl. Dress with any of your favourite dressings!


As a bonus I include my Avocado Basil Dressing:


1/4 avocado
1 big bunch sweet basil
2 stalks of chive
1 stalk parsley – just the leaves (optional)
4 leaves mint (optional)
Pink salt to taste
1/2 tbsp olive oil
Half a lemon/lime


You can also add celery instead of parsley, and add 1 tbs olive oil if you don’t have the lemon/lime.
Blend it all up and enjoy!

Raw Sweet Plantain Dressing

Don't throw away your plantains that are over ripe! When the skin turns black it is actually a fully ripened plantain that can be eaten raw just like you would eat a banana!

I owe this dressing to my sis Tuff Like Iron who was the first to share with us sistrens in Trinidad, the idea that we can actually eat a plantain raw.

I made this recipe based on the suggestion and am so happy to share with you all.

You will need:

1  ripe or 70% black skinned plantain

2 stalks chive

1 red or green pimento

1 tbs coconut or olive oil

1 tsp juice of 1 lemon/lime ( this can be optional)

1 pinch of pink salt

1 dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Add a slice of avocado and a few basil leaves in the summer to add more flavour and healthy fats!

Blend everything together, It will become a thick creamy live dressing. 

Serve it up room temperature on a salad, or spread over a fresh salad-hummus wrap. 

I personally love love love this sauce on my chickpea or black bean veggie burgers/patties/fritters or any type of baked patty. 

The sweet tangy flavour is the perfect match for a savoury dish!

Fulljoy,

Ila

DIY Nut Mylk

Nut Mylks are much better for the body than dairy or soy mylk. Homemade nut mylk is also much better for the body than store bought almond, rice or other type of nondairy mylk because those mylks contain unhealthy additives and wayyyy too much sugar.

24 ounces coconut mylk

2 cups almonds, cashews or 1 coconut – white meat extracted.
1 mason jar or glass bottle
blender
1 nut mylk bag or cheese cloth or you can use a clean bandana

Method:

For 12 hours, soak almonds/cashews in water, in a mason jar or bowl filled to the brim.

Throw off water and place almonds/cashews into a blender. Pop off the skin of almonds first.

Or extract coconut white meat and place in blender. To extract coconut meat easy, crack shell and allow to bake in oven for no more than 3-5 minutes or place in hot sun if you have the time. Use a knife to push out meat. Cut into small pieces.

If you have a big blender jar combine 4 cups of water and the nuts in the blender and blend well.

If using a Nutribullet blend in two parts: 2 cups of water with half the nuts or coconut meat at a time.

Pour some mixture into nut mylk bag and squeeze out mylk into a bowl, repeat this til blender is empty.

Strain the nut mylk a second time to remove any remaining nut pulp.

You can sweeten the mylk with powdered nutmeg, cinnamon, coconut sugar, or agave.

Store in a mason or other glass jar and consume within a few days.

Add to smoothies or to make cereal, to soak oats, or add to all your quinoa and lentils when cooking or to any vegan dishes that require milk. You can also just drink it with a dash of turmeric every morning as an overall body boost and parasite killer.

Make your own nut mylk bag with a light white cotton fabric, cut two pieces into a square, sew up three sides and voila!

Happy Mylking!

Ila