The local public library has some really cool free stuff. Since I’m working the Dave Ramsey debt free plan, “free” sounds better and better these days. For tonight’s free adventure I went to a cooking demonstration for the African Heritage Diet. I like their tag line. “Diabetes is not part of your heritage, neither is heart disease”.

Both diseases run rampant in my African-American family. We often make the excuse that it’s genetic, or cultural. But it’s mostly about poor food choices that we make as individuals.  I don’t really promote “diets” on my blog, but the African Heritage Diet is essentially the food plan my body likes.  The Diet involves preparing clean whole foods with little to no sugar or salt. They also focus on being active and enjoying meals with others.

The woman who taught the class is originally from East Africa. She said that she makes all of her food from scratch, however most of her recipes only take about 30 minutes to prepare.

She said that she adds vegetables to every single meal.  If she has eggs for breakfast, she will add kale.  She adds veggies to every smoothie.  Her favorite smoothie is celery blended with yogurt. (I’m not so sure about that…but hey, I’ll try it!)  Unlike American culture, She uses little to no salt or sugar, but uses spices to season the food.  Everything we tried was colorful and flavorful.  Nothing tasted like it “needed more salt.”

Since she couldn’t cook at the library, she brought in a stew and I’m not even sure what the other dish was (something that looked like a lasagna of sorts, layered with sweet potatoes and kale.)  The stew was loaded with seasonal veggies like sweet potatoes, greens, grains, fresh parsley and more.  The stew was hearty, but the salad she prepared for us was by far my favorite. It had her homemade salad dressing.  It was so yummy.   Sometimes she adds yogurt. I can’t wait to try some of her recipes, most of which are vegetarian or vegan.

Apple Salad Ingredients

Jalapeño

Celery

Red cabbage

Apple

Sunflower seeds

Homemade Croutons

Enjoy! I sure did.

Peanut Dill Salad Dressing

 

 

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