Healthy Eating Adventure: Ethiopian Cuisine

Recently I wrote a post about why you should associate healthy eating with food adventures. So I decided to highlight a few cuisines that are great examples of healthy food that is flavorful and exciting and worthy of food adventures. Here we go, Ethiopian.

I LOVE Ethiopian food. One reason is that I generally love cuisines where you eat little bits of a lot of food instead of a big ole’ plate of one thing. The photo is of our favorite combination, a vegetable plate with a chicken dish.

Why do I think Ethiopian food is perfect for a healthy eating adventure? It’s fresh, wholesome and all real.

So Ethiopian food is eaten family style, off of a large round metal tray with a piece of injera spread out on it. All of the dishes are served on top. Even family and friends who are not super adventurous will find something familiar that they like. Some dishes are spicy and others are mild.

Now, we learned over the years that we don’t just eat Ethiopian with any ole’ body. Everybody needs to thoroughly wash their hands with a nail brush before leaving the hose, and we normally wash them again when we get to the restaurant. People who can’t deal with this just have to stay home. And, your fingers don’t need to touch the inside of your mouth, that’s what the injera is for. It takes a little practice but it becomes easy after about 5 minutes.

Injera is a staple bread used to pick up food. It is made from fermented teff flour. It is spongy and slightly sour. For me, this was an acquired taste. I didn’t like it at first but now I love it.

Now, I’ll give a brief description of each dish in the photo, starting at the top and going clockwise.

Shiro- made from chickpea flour and seasoned with berebere. Berebere is a hot all purpose spice mix of primarily “paprika together other spices like garlic, ginger, fenugreek, cumin, cardamom, black pepper and of course Chili Pepper which gives it a kick”~ get the recipe at Immaculate Bites

I like to purchase berebere from the carryout side of the restaurant and use it to excite things like spaghetti sauce.

Gomen — collard greens mildly seasoned and cooked in clarified butter.

Atkilt wot — mild cabbage, carrots and potatoes in what I think is also clarified butter

Mersir wot — spicy red lentils seasoned with berebere

Kik alicha — mild yellow lentils

Salata — tomatoes, peppers and onions

Doro wat — spicy chicken in berebere with a boiled egg. The authentic way this is served with a chicken leg but this particular restaurant has an option for boneless chicken.

In general, Ethiopian cuisine is sensuous and absolutely satisfying. It’s not just mechanical eating, it’s a true experience. Also, don’t try to scarf it down fast because the injera seems like it expands in your stomach and if you eat fast you won’t notice until it’s too late and feel stuffed with indigestion.

There are several great Ethiopian (and Eritrean) restaurants here in DC, we particularly love Dukem, on U Street. So if you get the opportunity, gather up the fam and have a fun night out. Usually the kids get excited about eating with hands so you can lure them in with that if they’re resistant.

I have a million other ways to make healthy eating a fun, flavorful, and joyous experience for you and your whole family.

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