Meatless Friday: Ugali and Bean Soup

Matt Swaim, host of Son Rise Morning Radio Show, learns how to cook Ugali with beans and pumpkin leaves over an open fire.

As many of you know, I recently had the opportunity to travel to Tanzania with Catholic Relief Services. One highlight of the trip was being part of a cooking demonstration in a real Tanzanian kitchen while our charming hostess Mwamvita cooked the traditional Tanzanian meal Ugali and Bean Soup with my good friend Matt Swaim.

Matt hosts the fabulous Son Rise Morning Show. But now he can add "cooking show host" to his credentials, since Matt and Mwamvita collaborated to film a culinary documentary. While they were filming, the rest of us were off stage enjoy the antics of Matt and the chickens who were running around Mwamvita's kitchen.

The experience of being inside a Tanzanian home was a true blessing. Despite the simplicity of Mwamvita's circumstances, she and Matt prepared a delicious feast for our CRS Media group and the entire village. As we dined together, I marveled at the fact that such simple ingredients could combine into such a delicious dish. This meatless recipe, along with the many others being offered by CRS again this year, enable us to feel a sense of kinship and solidarity with the families served by our Rice Bowl gifts.

Now, sit back and enjoy the cooking show. Find the complete recipe for Ugali and Bean Soup here. Learn more about CRS Rice Bowl and how your family can be a part of this special Lenten program here.

Watch Matt Swaim, host of Son Rise Morning Radio Show in the village of Nahimba, Tanzania where he learns how to cook Ugali with beans and pumpkin leaves over an open fire from a lovely woman named Mwamvita. This recipe is a feature of CRS Rice Bowl 2015. For this and other recipes visit crsricebowl.org/recipe-archive.