Ingredients
Alefu/Efo (African spinach) or Ugu (fluted pumpkin); If using Ugu, you can add water leaf to it
Palm oil
Fresh fish/turkey/quails/chicken
Onions and garlic
Knorr(chicken flavour)
Crayfish
Fresh/ground pepper
Stockfish (optional)
Clean water
Procedure
Wash the fresh fish/turkey/quails/chicken and stockfish with clean water
Place the stockfish in a clean pot, pour water and allow to boil until it is soft. Stockfish takes longer time to soften
Place the fresh fish/turkey/quails/chicken inside a clean pot, add water, pepper, onions, garlic and 2 cubes of knorr to spice
Place the pot on fire and allow to boil until meat is soft
While your stock fish and meat are on the fire, wash your vegetables thoroughly with clean water and chop them
Wash and chop the garlic and a big bulb of onions
Wash and chop or pound the pepper if your choice is fresh pepper
Pick out impurities from the crayfish then place it in a plate and pour water to rinse it
You may choose to pound the crayfish or use it like that.
After your fresh fish/turkey/quails/chicken and stock fish are cooked, separate them from the broth (the water used to cook them)
Lower the flame and pour a table spoon of palm oil into the broth
Resist the urge to fry the oil or drench the soup with so much oil that it “swims”.
Pour in the chopped garlic, onions, pepper and crayfish
Add 2 cubes of knorr to taste. Don’t add in too much knorr, avoid trying to overcompensate for the lack of salt
Add the shredded vegetables, stockfish and fresh fish/turkey/quails/chicken
Use the broth as water to mix
Only add more water if the broth is not sufficient but use as little water as possible because vegetables contain a lot of water soluble vitamins which may leach out in the process of cooking
Increase the flame and allow to cook for about 5 minutes
Your vegetable soup is ready
Your vegetables should not be overcooked to enable them retain their nutrients. They should be “half-done”.
Serving Options
If you are a lover of swallow, serve your vegetable soup with amala, semolina, semovita or yellow garri/eba (yellow garri has more nutritional value than white, because it is fried with palm oil). Pounded yam and akpu/fufu should be avoided as much as possible because of their high starch content and contributions to blood sugar level, and an expanding waist line.
If you don’t eat swallow, you may serve your vegetable soup with brown rice, boiled/roasted yam, boiled potatoes (sweet or Irish) or boiled/roasted plantain.
Don’t forget to drink water.
Dietary Benefits
Alefu/Efo (African spinach): Rich in fibre and vitamins, and contains no calories. It boosts the immunity, aids in digestion, improves the eye sight, promotes healthy bones, aids in weight loss, promotes a healthy heart, among others.
Ugu (Fluted pumpkin): Rich in protein, minerals and vitamins, it boosts the immune system, it improves the eye sight, it increases fertility, it helps to regulate blood sugar in diabetic patients.
Water leaf: It reduces the risk of liver diseases, it prevents anaemia by boosting the blood level, it aids digestion, regulates blood sugar and cholesterol levels and it aids weight management.
Palm oil: It increases the body metabolism and is therefore good for weight loss, it is high in vitamin A, it prevents brain disease, reduces cholesterol and is used in treating high blood pressure.
Fresh fish/turkey/quails/chicken: Go for any of these instead of red meat like beef. Red meat contains cholesterol and saturated fats (the bad kind of fat) which increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, and also lead to weight gain which in turn increases the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
Onions: Good for healthy skin and hair, they also help regulate blood sugar, help with depression, lower the production of bad cholesterol, aid sleep and appetite in addition to other benefits.
Garlic: It has few calories, it improves cholesterol levels and this may lower the risk of heart disease, it can reduce blood pressure and it boosts the immunity. Its benefits are also numerous.
Crayfish: I call this the natural food sweetener. It is high in protein, minerals (calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium and phosphorus) and B vitamins. It is low in fat and carbohydrates.
Stockfish: Many soup lovers particularly in the Eastern and Southern parts of Nigeria, are fond of stock fish. It is low in calories and fat but rich in vitamins and lean protein.
Water: We all know that water is one of the major classes of food. Ensure that all water taken into the body either by way of drinking or cooking, is clean to avoid diseases like typhoid and cholera.
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