As I was packing up my New York apartment to move to Rotterdam, I found a couple of magazine pages with a "bikini diet" that I had torn out of a magazine almost a year before. I love to cook, and the recipes still looked good (plus, who doesn't want to look good in a bikini?), so, on a whim, I brought them with me.
I am so happy.
Every recipe I've made so far has been easy to prepare and absolutely delicious. For the first time in my life, I actually feel that what I'm cooking tastes better than what I could buy in a moderate-priced restaurant. So, with apologies to Fitness Magazine, I'd like to share a couple of my favorites.
African Sweet Potato Soup
This is perfect for rainy days and chunky enough to please meat eaters.
Sautee 2 cloves garlic and 1 small chopped onion in canola oil. Add 1 quart chicken stock, 1 cubed peeled sweet potato, 1 cubed potato (with skin), and 1 can diced tomatoes. Season with 1 teaspoon each curry, cinnamon, sea salt, and cumin. Add 1/4 cup peanut butter (yes, peanut butter!) and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. Simmer 10 to 12 minutes. Makes 3-4 servings depending on the size of your potatoes and what your metric estimate for "quart" is :)
I find it's also useful to add a bit of flour or cornstarch to help it to blend, but it's not necessary. You can also substitute the sweet potato with a tablespoon of tomato paste and another potato, and the cayenne pepper isn't 100% necessary.
It works really well over rice, or with a roll, and with a side salad with a light vinaigrette. Yum!
The first few times I brought this for lunch, I had people looking over my shoulder asking "What smells so fresh?!" It's a great salad because you can prepare it in the morning -- including dressing -- and it won't get wilted and gross. The serving size filling if you don't skimp on the cheese; if you can't have dairy, make sure to add another protein or add a few more chickpeas.
Combine 1/4 cup each chopped red pepper, green pepper, and cucumber. Add 1/2 cup chickpeas, 1/2 chopped tomato, and 5 Kalamata olives, sliced. Season with 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (white vinegar works fine too). Top with crumbled feta.
Notes: White vinegary works fine, too. You can also substitute blue cheese for the feta if you like sharp cheeses and live in a country that somehow does not understand the concept of feta, despite ingesting more dairy products per capita than any other country in the world. Not that you do.
