Nothing beats a summer salad like a beet salad! Add a splash of citrus coupled with an assortment of fresh herbs from the garden and there it is - a hearty salad perfectly suited to beat the heat on a hot summer day up on the ridge! Like most of our recipes, this is easy, fresh, and packed with hearty and soul satisfying nutrients. It can be served alone or atop a bed of rocket / greens of your choice! Nothing beats a citrus beet salad to beat the heat on a hot summer day up on the ridge! Preparation Time 20 minutes (+ 1 hours to cool beets in fridge) Cook Time 1 hour for beets Total Prep Time 20 minutes (2 hours pre-prep for beets) Servings  4 - 6 people Ingredients 6 medium size fresh beets (boil until just cooked (not too soft) and cool in the fridge 1 hour) 1 medium red onion 1 clementine (chenza - Swahili for clementine) 2 tablespoons honey 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (or substitute with lemon juice) Fresh herbs like thyme / basil to season and garnish Salt and pepper to taste Steps Boil fresh beets for about an hour, drain, and cool in fridge, peel Slice beets into small wedges (after cooking, cooling and peeling) -place in large bowl Thinly slice onion (soak sliced onion in bowl of salt water then drain) place in large bowl with beets Peel clementine / chenza and pull apart wedges, slice wedges - place in large bowl with beets Mix together honey, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar ( optional salt and pepper ) in separate small bowl Pour this honey, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar dressing over the beets, onion, and chenza Toss all together well in large bowl, so beets are fully coated with dressing Mix in thyme and basil leafs to flavour Garnish with basil, thyme, and citrus fruit to serve This unbeatable summer citrus beet salad can be served alone or atop a bed of rocket / arugula / greens of your choice!

Going on a picnic?  What better dish to bring along than a cold tuna salad? Before moving abroad, a tuna salad was my go-to for that perfect picnic dish. These days, a fish salad is still my favourite picnic “go-to” but instead of popping out tuna from a can, I use tilapia  - freshly caught from Kenya’s beautiful Lake Victoria  - the day after having tilapia for dinner.  This Picnic Perfect - Next Day Fish Salad uses no mayonnaise - instead we toss in only fresh ingredients along with extra virgin olive oil - making it healthy, wholesome, and still our “go-to” when gathering for a  picnic on the ridge. Of course, like all of our recipes, we encourage you to toss in veggies and fish local to your corner of the globe!  Share in the comments your own local twist to this classic go-to picnic salad!  Happy gathering and happy picnicking! Picnic Perfect - Next Day Fish Salad is the perfect go-to for picnicking and gathering! Preparation Time 20 minutes Cook Time 0 minutes Total Prep Time 20 minutes Servings  4 - 6 people Ingredients 3 - 4 spiced, pan fried, tilapia filets cooled in fridge (overnight) 3 - 5 celery stocks chopped in small cubes 1 medium yellow onion or 2 small onions (chopped) 1 bunch of cilantro 1 cucumber peeled and chopped into small cubes 1 - 2 avocados 3 - 4 limes and.a lemon for juice and garnish 2 - 3 table spoons olive oil handful of fresh thyme and / or oregano to taste and garnish dash of salt and pepper to taste 1 washed and dried bunch of rocket / arugula All fresh and locally sourced ingredients make this picnic dish healthy and hearty! Steps Tear apart / chop the cool, spiced, pan fried, tilapia filets into very tiny bits Dice onion, cilantro, cucumber, celery all into small cubes Squeeze lemon and a few limes into juice (save a few limes and slice for garnish) Peel and chop avocado (save a slice or two for garnish) Place all the above in a large mixing bowl Generously add olive oil and thyme, and salt and pepper to taste and mix well Place arugula / rocket in a serving dish (or glass take a way Tupperware if taking salad to go on a picnic) Place the fish mix form the mixing bowl on top of arugula / rocket Garnish as you wish - we like to use a few wedges of limes, avocado, and fresh thyme from our garden Serve with your favourite baguette or crackers and enjoy!

Every gathering needs salsa to spice things up, and so, every “nest” needs it’s own unique salsa recipe to create it’s own special flavour and to nurture it’s spice.  This easy red salsa is our nest’s recipe.  It is simple, quick and easy to make.  It pairs well with our nachos, tortillas, or crisps (chips) of your choice. While this recipe creates a mild spice, just add in  a chili of your choice to heat things up! We think our salsa is the perfect spice to add to a stunning red African sunset over the Great Rift Valley. Homemade red salsa pairs well with our nachos, tortillas, or crisps (chips) of your choice. Preparation Time 10 minutes Cook Time 0 minutes Total Prep Time 20 minutes 10 minutes Servings   4 - 6 people Ingredients 1 whole medium yellow onion peeled and chopped 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes (alternatively simmer and cool about 10 ripe tomatoes) Bunch of cilantro washed and cut Pinch of salt Just a few simple ingredients for loads of flavour! Steps Chop onion Wash and cut cilantro Combine tomatos, chopped onion, cilantro and salt in food processor Pulse on medium until saucy consistency Serve with tortilla chips or add to your favourite dish to spice it up Combine all ingredients, pulse, and enjoy!

Gathering almost always involves food that “crunches” in the soul - soul food.   Before moving overseas, nachos were that soul food dish that I could, without fail, quickly put together for any gathering.  After moving abroad,  I often didn’t know where to go for my “go to” nacho ingredients.  Starting in Moshi, Tanzania where there were no “nacho chips” available,  I turned to crispy cassava (yucca) chips (i.e. crisps) instead.  I began experimenting with creating my own “salsa” and taco seasoning from scratch.  Like most of my recipes, this one has evolved with the different places I’ve lived.  In Kenya, I use “yam” crisps and while in Angola, I use cassava crisps.  In London, I used good ole Corn Tortilla crisps with a touch of quinoa.   Rather than using meat,  these nachos use lentils as a protein.  To top it off,  instead of using  sour cream, which can be hard to come by, I use plain yoghurt as a topping. We hope you will get creative and add your own locally inspired crunch for the soul with our Spiced Lentil Nachos.  Just a few simple ingredients bring a new crunch to Nachos for the Perfect Gathering!  .  Made with spiced lentils and  cassava crisps these nachos will be a hit for everyone!

As a family that travels as often as most of us  change the bedsheets, our family has fully adopted a “let it go” spirit. Yet at the end of the day, we always look for the threads that connect us  - weave us - with each other and with the world around us like;  stories, food, and love.  We know that food and stories connect people and for us, food is love!  As much as the landscape changes as we travel,  so does the food.  The availability of food, the quality of food, the knowledge of where to buy food and how to enjoy food all changes.  Sometimes finding love in food - requires one to simply let go .    One of my favourite “let it go” recipes is my Bean Hummus with a Twist of Lime.  I began creating this recipe back when I lived in Moshi, Tanzania when finding all the ingredients for traditional chick pea hummus was nearly impossible. So in the spirit of letting go of what I knew hummus to be, I began to improvise and substitute.  This recipe has become our family “go to” for a quick healthy snack after a long hike or while sipping white wine while the sun goes down. It can be changed and adapted as many ways as one would like  - use lemons or tangerines instead of lime or use black or pinto beans instead of kidney beans.  Everyone will love letting go with  Bean Hummus with a Twist of Lime!