DAY 40! :-)

This is day 40 and the end!

My extreme vegan lent is over! Yay!

There is bible verse that says “through Him (God), who gives me strenght, I CAN do all things". Phil, 4:13. I must say it  has been a challenge and I have realized today that I had even cut out butter can you believe it? This feels like I have achieved something big. I don’t think I have ever challenged myself on a personal level to this extend. So, yes I am thanking the Master for being my anchor always.

I have managed to stay off caffeine, cow’s milk, all meats, sugar, all refined foods, white rice, pasta and others that I cannot remember. I have managed to present a new dish every single day, blogged every single day … IN ENGLISH! The fact that I have just published over 40 blogposts… is a surprise even for me with French being my first language. I am amazed by this achievement. I admit there must have been some really annoying Franglish and misuse of the English language, but I am not sure that they were irritating enough for an English speaking person to point it out.

Ingredients for the pounded plantain

 Any who! Today for lunch I revisited my old friend the pounded plantain with black beans and palm oil. This meal would be the one I’d eat if I was to die and someone offered to cook me a last meal. It is simple uncomplicated, comforting and delish. I it a really stodgy meal though not really recommended for lunch at work as you might feel sleepy in mid-afternoon see full recipe in day 21's post.

 For dinner I had a big beautiful salad that I hadn’t planned. The one I wanted to eat was a bag of crunchy ready cut salad from Morrison’s, but I had it in the fridge for too long and it started to spoil. So, I decided to replace the crunchy leaves with some fresh broccoli. 

To make this salad, you would need pickled beetroots, onions, oil, 5 chestnuts, green peppers & a tomato.

Start by blanching the broccoli florets. Chuck them in boiling water for literally 2 minutes. Drain them quickly pour really cold water over them to so they’d stop cooking. Put aside.

Chop half an onion and the chestnuts. Fry the chestnuts on hot oil until crisp, then add onion with a bit of chilli pepper add salt. Take off fire… if you can, put a bit of water to create a bit of liquid that will serve as vinaigrette in the salad.

All you have to do now is chop your tomato and beetroot, add the broccoli then, the fried onion and chestnut. Toss and serve.  Done.

If the salad seem too dry, you can drizzle a bit of olive oil on it or just a squeeze of lemon.

Tomorrow’s post will be the last of this blog, but I will be replying to comments and questions posted by the blog visitors.

Thanks again for your support.

My dead crunchy salad - binned