Recipe Corner: Nigerien Street Food

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I intended to have more pictures for this post, but since I don’t, I guess I will have to just write 10,000 words. Just kidding. You can keep reading, it’s okay.

Last month, we had dinner with a couple who has lived in Niger before, and they worked at the school we will be at. They surprised us with the most delicious Nigerien street food you or I could imagine. Even better than the surprise, was finding out that they had come up with the recipe by themselves based on memory of the food. That in and of itself is a huge feat that I’m pretty sure I would fail at, so I cannot take credit for this recipe. It was their hard work that made it possible for me to write about it, and after asking their permission, I decided to try it out.

Upon receiving the recipe, I began planning when to make it. I added the ingredients that I needed to my shopping list. I even planned the night I would be making it, and warned our guests for the night that they would be guinea pigs.

In my mind, I imagined writing this post with step by step photo instructions using professional looking pictures of sizzling meat and chopped vegetables that are very strategically placed to be aesthetically pleasing. This was mostly just a dream for me because I actually have next to no talent with a camera, even if all the pictures look fantastic in my head. But of course, as the weekend drew on, one thing led to another, and nothing went as planned. Sunday night, we arrived home from a long weekend away just 10 minutes before our guests arrived. Thankfully, this is a super quick 20-minute meal so they didn’t have to wait long, but I also got absolutely no life-like pictures of my immaculately clean kitchen, or a nice shot of garlic sizzling in a pan in such a delicious manner that one can’t help but crave lightly browned garlic. And let’s be real, my kitchen was not immaculately clean.

So, anyway. Here are some instructions for you all in case you would like to repeat this delicious recipe, which our friends who created it call “African Sub.” I personally have never bought this food and eaten it in its natural habitat so I cannot take credit on whether it is authentic or not. However, I trust the taste buds of those who compiled this recipe, so I’m not too worried. I can get back to you on that once I have had a chance to eat it myself.

I started out with 3lbs of ground beef. Lean meat would definitely be more authentic, but as you can tell from this jumbled up post, I planned too poorly to search for lean ground beef in any stores. Consequently, I just used what I had in my freezer.

I defrosted the meat in superfast mode (not an actual microwave setting, in case you were wondering). While the meat was defrosting, I diced the green pepper, onion, and tomatoes. After plopping the meat in a large frying pan and turning it on medium-high heat, I added the garlic and diced vegetables. Covered and stirred occasionally until the meat was browned. Once the meat was browned, I added the dry soup mix, chili powder, and salt (if desired). I added about a tsp of salt, but the recipe would likely be good with less. I may have rushed things a bit and added in the seasonings before the meat was fully browned. But, shhhh. Don't tell anyone. Once the meat was cooked through, I attempted to drain any extra grease (does this make it more lean? Ha), and then my meat was finished! Ta-da.

Cut your French rolls in half and stuff with whatever amount of meat you think is appropriate. We then topped the meat with mayo, yellow mustard, and Worcestershire sauce (This was our attempt at substituting Maggi Seasoning). I can’t remember if the condiments we added were what we had at our friend’s house, but the finished product turned out delicious. Unless our guests were just trying to make me feel good, I can say that they also enjoyed this meal. And, always a bonus, my toddlers gobbled it up.

Of course I took absolutely no pictures last night when we tried the recipe, so I was excited to heat up some of the leftovers for you guys to visualize the deliciousness. Let’s be real, I also really wanted to eat this again.

So yeah, it basically looks like sloppy joes, but has a different taste, so don’t let the looks fool you.

I fully intend to come back and edit this post once I have had a chance to eat some of the street food in Niger for myself, but for now, I was overly pleased with my first attempt at making a food we are not really sure how should taste. If you have any input on this recipe, please leave some feedback!

We are excited to try this recipe again, and hopefully we will get a taste of Nigerien street food in Niger soon.

Aliya

Sentiment Corner: When You Have to Say Goodbye

I know it is months away, but this is something that has been on my heart since I first realized fully that we would be moving. Moving across the ocean. Not just moving to another town, or another state, but moving across the ocean to another country. Sure, there is Skype and phone calls and Facebook chat for when you miss people. And unlike 200 years ago, I don’t have to wait to hear from loved ones for months at a time. But being apart from your family is still hard.

Just to get this out of the way, I don’t intend for this to be a pity-poor-me post. I am excited about going to a new place and meeting friends and learning a new culture, but that doesn’t take away the feeling of loss that comes with saying goodbye when you move.

As an independent person, it is hard knowing that places will change and we will have to navigate somewhere new.

As a friend, it hurts knowing that people will move away and I won’t always be able to see them when I come home.

As an adventurer, it is bittersweet knowing that the start of a new adventure can mean saying goodbye to those you love and old adventures.

As a sister, and grandchild, and child, it hurts knowing that when I say goodbye, it could be for the last time in years, or ever. This is always the case, but it becomes more emotional when I know I can’t just come back and say “hey” whenever I jolly-well please.

As a mom, it hurts knowing that my children will not grow up near their grandparents and great-grandparents.

These things all weigh heavy on my heart as we begin to evaluate the logistics of moving. Things that, before now, we have taken for granted are now so precious to us. Soon we won't be able to stop in to see family and they won't be able to stop in and see us. And this is what we are choosing to do? Take our twins, and only a few possessions, to the other side of the world to live? Of our own free will? We must be absurd. We are probably insane. And as our Psychologist put it, "you guys are just crazy enough to do this." I've come to the understanding that it takes someone crazy to follow Jesus. 

I look at Matthew 10:37-39 in a new way now that I am physically leaving my family and friends for the unknown.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

While this command will not present itself exactly in others’ lives as it has in my life and the life of my family, it has become very real to me. In order to find my life [Jesus], I will lose all that I have known. In losing my life to Christ’s will for my life, I will find life. So yeah, it sounds a little bit crazy.

Jesus never promised that saying goodbye to family and close friends would be easy or even natural, but He did say that in losing all that we hold dear, we would find Him.

And so we are going somewhere new, leaving behind all that we know in order to enthusiastically serve the Lord in the ministries He has called us to. We're saying goodbye, and it's crazy, and there's emotional pain, but in the end it takes losing ourselves to follow Jesus. We are willing to take that risk.