African Aubergine Coconut Cassoulet

There are no fiery or smoky chillies in this African Aubergine Coconut Cassoulet , but it is immensely flavourful.  

The recipe for African Cassoulet is originally made with Boerewors which are South African sausages, I liked the sound of the flavour's in the rich ochre coloured sauce, so decided to make a vegetarian version which also happens to be suitable for vegans.  In place of the Boerewors I sliced some aubergines length ways in a manner to mimic the look of the Boerewors.   

Chipotle Chilli Sweetcorn Soup

I am back from my holidays and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, but like all holidays it comes to an end.  I have lots of photographs to share, but that will have to wait till later in the week.  

Today I share with you this Chipotle Chilli Sweetcorn Soup.

This soup may look a tad simple on the visual side, but the bold flavours totally blew me away.

vegan Cornmeal Baked Okra

Okra Star or Okra Sun, whatever fancy name I want to give it, this is really a light snack called Oven Baked Cornmeal Okra.  

I actually have an ulterior motive for sharing this post today and presenting it like the sunshine ray of sorts, I am off on my first long (more than a long weekend) holiday in years - I am going to South of France, the journey begins tomorrow, so I will be taking a proper rest from blogging for a week or so.

Back to the Cornmeal Baked Okra.  Think crispy 'fish' fingers, crispy 'chicken' wings and you get the idea.  This is awesome and I say that as someone who has become a convert of the okra, lady fingers aka Bindi.  I absolutely hated it when I was growing up, but in the last 10 years or so, I have come to appreciate okra  much much more.  The viscous texture associated with okra disappears completely on baking.  What is more delightful about this finger food is that the okra is enhanced with  spices and crunch from the baked cornmeal.  You could easily chop these into bite size pieces and make turn them into Baked Cornmeal Okra Popcorn!