Vegetable Soup

Blanch the vegetable by first washing the leaves thoroughly under running water to remove dirt and sand particles. Dice and set aside. Bring water to a boil in a pot add the vegetable making sure all the vegetable is immersed in the boiling water.

Turn with a wooden spoon for just a minute and transfer to a clean colander to remove the hot water. Rinse in cold water immediately to stop the cooking process. Squeeze out the water with your palm and set aside.

To make the soup; Place a clean pot on medium flame, heat the palm oil for about 3 minutes and fry the onion for a minute. Add the pepper mix (Scotch bonnet pepper, Red bell pepper and Onion) and stir. Add the beef, ponmo (cow skin), locust beans and seasoning cubes.

Stir everything together, cover the pot and allow to cook for about 20 minutes until the beef and ponmo are tender and the stew is reduced by at least half the initial quantity. Add the vegetable and stir. (Make sure to squeeze out the water from the vegetable). Add salt to taste. Take off the heat and serve with any swallow of your choice.

Note: Feel free to use any combination of meat/ fish/poultry of choice. I mixed the locust beans in water before adding it to the soup. Be careful how you add salt to this soup when using locust beans because it contains a reasonable amount of Salt.