EACH WEEK, WE ask a home cook about the dishes they’ve been whipping up of late. The kind of food you don’t need a recipe for, from quick snacks to empty-the-fridge dinners.
This week, Odilia Michelle Chukwubifem (@michelle_chuks) shared five low-carb dishes she makes time and time again.
Odilia graduated from Limerick School of Art and Design with a degree in Animation and Motion Design in 2017, and combines her love of art and creativity through cooking.
“I have always enjoyed cooking from young age as it helps me to relax and I think of it as art through my presentation, but most importantly I love exploring with ingredients, flavour and trying out and creating new recipes,” she says.
From a traditional Nigerian dish to a quick and easy breakfast, below are five of Odilia’s go-to recipes…
1. Chicken and vegetable soup with almond bread: I love soup with bread. Some days it’s soup with a drop of coconut milk, and I believe it’s something I adapted while living in Ireland. Mushroom soup was the first Irish soup I tasted and I loved it. One thing I love about this dish is that it can be eaten at any time of the day. It’s very filling due to the added eggs and the almond bread.
To make the almond bread, I use almond flour, eggs, Stevia, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla extract, melted coconut oil and walnuts for the topping.
2. Smoothie bowl: This is one thing I love waking up to in the morning. It’s what I mostly commonly have for breakfast. This smoothie bowl is made from frozen avocado, a handful of spinach, a frozen banana, a scoop of vanilla powder, some coconut milk and extra fruit and seeds for decoration.
3. Sweet potato salad: Salads are one of my favourite things I enjoy eating and preparing most days of the week. There are no rules as to what you can and can’t put in a salad. I made this one by gathering what I had in my fridge. This is a simple dish and it’s very easy to make. I have shared most of my salad recipes with family and friends and they enjoy every one of them.
This particular salad contained steamed spinach, roasted sweet potatoes, cream cheese, chickpeas and avocado.
4. Banga soup/ofe akwu with steamed white rice: This is a traditional Nigerian dish and it’s one of the first dishes I learnt from my mother at an early age. We mostly eat this dish every Sunday back home. Every ingredient and portion that comes with this dish is very important. If you mistakenly miss one out or add a little more than the portion needed, then it will be a total mess.
This is one of my favourite traditional dishes that reminds me of home and makes me miss home as well. To prepare it, we use assorted meat, palm fruit oil, cray fish or dried prawns, ogiri (a traditional ingredient), maggi (a stock cube), an onion, a bay leaf and a dried bitter leaf (crushed).
5. Egg wrap: An egg wrap is another way I love making my breakfast look appetizing and enjoyable to eat. They’re low in carb and high in protein. Eating healthy is one of my aims, but of course it hasn’t been easy. I have made this egg wrap in so many ways and with different fillings when friend comes over.
The fillings I had in this egg wrap were smoked salmon, spinach and cream cheese. I seasoned the eggs with a bit of stock cube, a pinch of pepper and ginger powder before frying.
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