Tag: African Cuisine

From My Garden to My Grandmother’s Kitchen
Gardening · Gardening

From My Garden to My Grandmother’s Kitchen

Lulu LeeLeave a comment

A Plant-Based Sweet Potato Leaf Stew Inspired by Sierra Leone

One of my favorite things about gardening is watching memories grow alongside the vegetables.

This week, I harvested tomatoes and sweet potato leaves from my garden, and as I carried them into the kitchen, I couldn’t help but think of my grandmother.

Sweet potato leaf stew was one of those meals that brought our family together. Growing up, it was often prepared with meat or fish, just as it is in many Sierra Leonean households. The aroma alone could fill the house and let everyone know dinner was almost ready.

Today, I still make that same stew—but with a few twists of my own.

Over the years, my diet has become mostly plant-based, so instead of meat, I use extra-firm tofu. It adds a satisfying texture while allowing me to honor the flavors I grew up with in a way that fits my lifestyle today.

Every time I make this dish, it feels like I’m bringing a little piece of my grandmother’s kitchen into my own.

Garden-to-Table Sweet Potato Leaf Stew

Ingredients

For the stew

  • About 6 cups chopped sweet potato leaves
  • 1 block extra-firm tofu, thawed, pressed, seasoned, and fried
  • 5 medium garden tomatoes
  • 2 yellow onions
  • 2 medium bell peppers
  • Oil for frying

Seasonings

  • Hot pepper flakes (to taste)
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  • 3–4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
  • Seasoned salt (to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

To Serve

  • Cooked jasmine rice

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
  2. Score the tomatoes with a shallow “X” on the bottom of each one and bake for about 10 minutes, until the skins begin to loosen. Remove them from the oven, peel away the skins, and blend or mash the tomatoes into a smooth sauce.
  3. While the tomatoes are roasting, season the tofu to your liking and fry until golden on all sides. Set aside.
  4. Blend the onions and bell peppers together in a food processor until smooth.
  5. Pour the vegetable mixture into the hot oil and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  6. Add the hot pepper flakes, grated ginger, garlic, seasoned salt, turmeric, and nutritional yeast. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes, allowing the spices to bloom and become fragrant.
  7. Stir in the fresh tomato sauce.
  8. Add the chopped sweet potato leaves, reduce the heat, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  9. Taste the stew and adjust the seasonings as needed.
  10. Gently fold in the fried tofu and simmer for another 10–15 minutes, allowing all of the flavors to come together.
  11. Serve over warm jasmine rice.

A Meal That Gets Better With Time

Like many stews, this one tasted even better the next day.

The flavors had more time to develop, making every bite richer than the last.

It’s one of those meals that’s perfect for meal prep because tomorrow’s lunch might be even better than tonight’s dinner.

More Than a Recipe

As I stood in my kitchen cooking this meal, I realized that gardening has become about so much more than growing food.

It’s about preserving traditions.

It’s about remembering the people who taught us to cook long before recipes were written down.

It’s about taking something familiar and making it your own without losing the heart of where it came from.

My grandmother may not have made sweet potato leaf stew with tofu, but I like to think she’d appreciate that the spirit of her cooking still lives on.

Every harvest reminds me that traditions don’t have to stay frozen in time.

They can continue to grow—just like the gardens we tend.

❤️ Happy cooking,
Lulu

Book Club

The Stories That Shaped Me: Books That Continue to Inspire My Writing

Lulu LeeLeave a comment

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When reading a book, it is important to remember that one is not just looking at words. They are looking at a time capsule in print. The author creates an image of a specific place in time. The reader is able to travel either to the future or the past through the writer’s lens.

The same can be said of cooking and gardening. When you make a meal from a recipe, you reach back into memory. You shape something from the past. This creation can be experienced by others in the future. When you plant seeds you’ve saved, you carry forward stories of survival and lineage. Books, recipes, and gardens—all are living vessels of heritage.

Books That Shape My Cooking and Creativity

Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food is a cookbook that deeply resonates with me. It offers inventive ways to nourish through hidden veggies. The approach is gentle, creative, and playful. What I love about it is how it invents ways to nourish through hidden veggies—gentle, creative, and playful. I’ve returned to its pages many times. It’s not just for guidance. It serves as a reminder that adaptation is at the heart of tradition.

I often take her recipes and transform them with African ingredients—adding, subtracting, or substituting to make them sing in ways that feel like home. Deceptively Delicious reminds me that creativity in the kitchen isn’t about following every rule. It’s about making something your own. At the same time, it’s about honoring what came before.

Books That Preserve Love and History

Another book that left a deep impression on me was My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams. Their words to one another are tender, passionate, and grounded in both love and duty. Reading those letters felt like holding a time capsule in my hands. They offered a glimpse into their daily lives. I could see the strength of their bond during a turbulent period in history.

Just like recipes passed down in families, these letters carried their love into the future. Like seeds planted in soil, they carried their faith and story as well. They reminded me that writing is not just about recording events, but about preserving connection.

My Bookshelf Essentials

Here are two books I continue to carry with me:

Closing Reflections

Books shape us in ways big and small. They remind us where we’ve come from. They inspire who we are becoming. They carry stories forward for those who come after us.

👉 What books have shaped your life or inspired your creativity? Share your favorites in the comments—I’d love to build a community reading list together.