How are you keeping it? Good-good?

I never could master the Liberian handshake. Granted, I don't really have anyone to practice with who knows what it is - it's kind of a slide/snap maneuver, your hands have to be really dry, and you should've been practicing since shortly after birth in order to master it by adulthood. So my chances, I'm guessing, are pretty slim.

It was July 18, 1989 when I returned from six months in West Africa. For my 20th birthday two of my friends took a treacherous cab ride to the American Embassy compound to buy me a bag of frozen strawberries at one of the few supermarkets in the country. Perhaps you know they're not native to the tropical rainforest, but in case you didn't - they're sooo not. Pineapple? Mango? Coconut and banana? All you want. No strawberries. Also not easy to find - ice cream, but they did it. Ann and Denise, I'm still grateful and amazed that you went to all that trouble!

There's coffee, though, and coffee trees smell nothing like coffee. They have the most gorgeous blossoms and a heavy, sweet but not cloying smell. Whenever we went by them all I could do was close my eyes, breathe deeply, and hope and pray to remember the moment.

Why did I stop eating red meat in Liberia? Two words - no cows.

What we did have was chicken, rice, dried fish, palm butter, scorching-hot peppers, rice, chicken bouillon cubes, rice, rice, various types of bread, rice, fresh fish (if by the sea), shortening (instead of butter/margarine for the bread), "bush meat" (whatever unlucky critter ended up in the stew pot), rice, palm wine, plantains, Spam, rice, greens, and rice.

All served on a bed of rice.

School - I was at a university - could not open without electricity, which ran for 3 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening. However, when the generator conked out again after having spent 5 days raised from the dead to open school, life and the semester went on undisturbed. And dark at night.

When coming back from Cote d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast), our intent was to walk the 8 miles from the military checkpoint at the border to the next town. But a car came along and picked up the four of us. What would they have done without us sticking our flashlights out the windows to light the way in the absence of headlights?

During the school year I lived on campus and not at the missionary compound. The cafeteria served bread - like a thick shortbread, or sometimes cornbread - for breakfast and dinner. There would be a thick pool of heavy margarine, or a smear of Crisco, on the plate as a spread. The Americans would often bring peanut butter into the cafeteria.

At lunch we stood in line to get a bowl of rice. Then we stood in another line for soup, which in the US we would call a stew. There were several different colors of stew, each with a hint of red from the palm oil. I'm sure they tasted different, but I could never taste anything except the AAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH of peppers.

Did I mention I looked terrifically thin when I got back to the States? Suck it, Atkins Diet.

The American professors had apartments on/near campus. When one of the professors went back to the States for a few weeks she allowed us to use her home - and at that point I cooked an entire four-course meal for seven on a hibachi with no refrigeration and one knife, thankyouverymuch. YES. Do I feel any conflict now with my nifty collection of multi-functional kitchen accoutrements? Well no, not until this minute... hmmm..... well, I'll say this - standards are higher in the US as an adult than they were in Liberia (or anywhere) as a college student.

Sweetie mentioned recently that if we're going on a trip there's sure to be a Stephanie-developed checklist of Stuff To Bring. And I can't tell you how difficult it was to get used to a much more laid-back way of traveling. Specifically, when do we leave? When the bus is full. If a big group comes by tomorrow and buys tickets, we leave tomorrow. Otherwise, no. How long is the trip? Depends on if it's rainy season or not. Depends on if the military checkpoints lets us pass. There's no way to know. Now put your head back on your canteen and go to sleep.

And throwing ourselves on the mercy of strangers to take us in whither we landed just blew my mind. But you know, what a wonderful thing - to fling one's self on the wings of adventure and be confident of a warm welcome. It never, ever failed to materialize - a safe, dry place to sleep.

Fufu is boiled, pounded cassava root. Women young and old sit outside with their pot of fufu-in-process and the pounding stick and they pound all day. ALL DAY.

Tastes like wax.

Cassava fries, though, aren't bad.

Liberia is a tribal country. You can draw all the lines you want to around a map, but patriotism is tribe, not country. Every tribe has its specialty industry, and the Mandingo tribe made incredible bread. Like French bread - crisp outside, fluffy inside, perfect with (I'm not kidding) Laughing Cow cheese, which you could buy one wedge at a time on the street in the capitol.

Going to Liberia when I was 19 made it really weird to say "I'll just have a beer." In college - where I had been a mere 60 days previously - there's so much faux-drama and secrecy and posturing about alcohol that it was other-worldly for it to be a non-event to have a Club beer. Which, by the way, I've never liked, but sterilizing your water gets old pretty fast and makes bottled beverages much more appealing. I've never cared for soda, either, but orange Fanta was my best friend for a while.

It's also how I knew I had malaria - I was at the market and spit out my Fanta saying it had "gone bad." It can't. The soda was fine, it was me that wasn't doing so great. And that's really all I remember until about 5 days later when my fever broke.

Palaver is a highly civilized concept. To palaver is to peaceably discuss an issue, for as long as necessary, until a workable solution can be reached. In small villages issues are not put to a majority vote - because if 51% support an idea, then you have 49% of your village unhappy with it. One imagines a leader doesn't sleep well that way, and probably not much of the citizenry, either.

There is also a wonderful dish known as palaver sauce; I'd be happy to share the recipe but I can't find kpon leaves or plato greens anywhere and doubt they're much available. Sadly, due to the absence of worlor seed, I won't be sharing the worlor sauce recipe, either.

The bananas I've had in the states have, frankly, fallen short of what I've learned a banana can be. Head out of the gutter, please. In West Africa they were small, creamy, and intensely flavorful. If you have the opportunity to pick up some red bananas they most closely approximate what I had available (really available, like "dropping off the tree").

One of my favorite dishes was Groundnut Stew. Groundnuts are known as the States as peanuts. This wonderful dish is cleverly served atop rice.

From the Phebe Cookbook, written by the folks at the Phebe Hospital compound - and by all means, take advantage of the supermarket and its selection of natural peanut butter!

Groundnut Stew
1 pint (2 cups) roasted peanuts
2 lbs. chicken or beef
1 bouillon cube (chicken or beef) - check the label to see if it's gluten-free, if that's a concern
Tomato paste
1 medium onion
1 TBSP butter (optional)

Season meat with salt and pepper. Let stand for a while.

Cook meat on medium heat until partly tender. Pound peanuts in mortar until like butter. Add 2 cups sterilized water to peanuts. Strain through a sieve. Pour the liquid into a pot with meat. Add a little tomato paste to give color. Cook until as tender as desired (approximately two hours).

Moroccan Chicken and a Lessrockin' version

Sometimes a complex recipe is fabulous; you spend hours in the kitchen and your guests say "I never imagined asparagus could be so ethereal!" and you modestly demur but you know, deep down, that you've taken asparagus to another level that the hoi polloi can only dream about. Other times I've looked at Sweetie and said, "Three hours in the kitchen for THAT???"

My old standby Moroccan Chicken, from the cleverly named "Healthy Chicken" cookbook by Barbara Chernetz, is worth the effort. It's a total pain in the ass to make and must be reserved for weekends in our household, but so be it.

So imagine my interest when I was in a doctor's office and came across "Moroccan Sweet Potato Stew" in the March, 2007 Good Housekeeping. Could it be? A tasty, no-fuss vegetarian version of our beloved Moroccan Chicken? And no one paying attention to the fate of the waiting room magazine?

Sorta. It lacks wow-power and co-worker-at-the-community-microwave envy. If you're in a rush and need to throw something together, the Moroccan Sweet Potato Stew is filling, fast, and healthful, if not stupendous:

MOROCCAN SWEET POTATO STEW
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 can (14 to 14.5 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth (1 3/4 cups), or vegetable broth for a vegetarian dish
1 cup no-salt-added garbanzo beans (chick peas), rinsed and drained
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch chunks (Peeled? Who has time? Leaving the peel on is fine)
2 small zucchini, cut into 3/4 inch chunks (I had yellow crookneck squash on hand - it worked fine)
Whole grain couscous
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, chopped (not something I keep on hand or am willing to spend $2 on... the recipe works without it)

1. In nonstick 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook 8 - 10 minutes or until tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Stir in garlic, curry powder, cumin, and allspice; cook 30 seconds.

2. Add tomatoes, broth, beans, and sweet potato; cover and heat to boiling over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook 10 minutes. SWtir in zucchini and cook, covered, 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

3. Meanwhile, prepare couscous as label directs

4. Stir mint into stew. Serve stew with couscous.

Each serving - about 360 calories, 14g protein, 70g carb, 5g total fat, 12g fiber


Now the more-rockin' version -

MOROCCAN CHICKEN WITH CORIANDER COUSCOUS
1 ounce slivered almonds (about 1/4 cup)
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces (I use whatever chicken I have in the freezer)
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup diced carrot (people dice those little things? I slice them)
1 cup diced zucchini
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I use 1 tsp)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (I use 1 tsp)
1/2 tsp ground coriander (I use 1 tsp)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (that's plenty)
2 cups no-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup canned chick-peas, rinsed and drained (I use the whole can - what else would I do with them?)
1/2 cup golden and/or dark raisins (not a fan of raisins & meat. I leave them out)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
Salt & pepper
1 cup couscous
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander or parsley (totally optional, IMHO)

1. In a small skillet, toast the almonds over medium heat, shaking the pan frequently, until browned*, about 5 minutes; set aside.

2. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning, until browned all over, about 5 minutes. Remove from the skillet; set aside.

3. In the same skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add onino and garlic and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the carrot and zucchini and cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Add the cinnamon, cumin, ground coriander, and cayenne. Cook, stirring, 1 minute to toast the spices (this really does make a difference). Add the chicken broth and heat to boiling. Reduce the heat, add the reserved chicken and simmer, covered, 20 minutes.

4. Add the chick-peas and raisins (ew) and cook, covered, 10 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Uncover and boil over medium-high heat until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.

5. In a medium saucepan, heat 1/2 cups water to boiling. Stir in the couscous and remove from the heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in the almonds and coriander/parsley and fluff lightly with a fork before serving with the chicken.

Per serving - 501 calories, 34g protein, 13g fat, 64 carbs, 21% USRDA Iron, 52% USRDA Niacin

Just a quick note - if you're really intent on throwing this together quickly it can be done. The night before toast the almonds, chop the carrots & zucchini and save in a Ziploc, and cook the chicken. Combine the spices in a Ziploc. You should be able to cut a good 20 - 30 minutes off the prep time when you put it together. Technically couscous can be made ahead, but it gets gummy and it doesn't really save that much time.

*Toasting nuts must be done CAREFULLY - they burst into flame at the slightest provocation. You've been warned.