After weeks of trying to come up with the perfect gift for my mom for Mother’s Day last month, my siblings and I decided we’d make her brunch instead.
And by ‘we’, I mean @adjoa – who is really the cook in the family, the rest of us are just stumbling along.
It wasn’t hard coming up with what to make, we wanted a meal that combined three elements; it had to be brunch-y, remind her of home, and it had to be healthy.

We tossed a few ideas around and finally decided on a frittata with a side of gari (not to be confused with the pickled ginger condiment!) and roasted vegetables.
Eggs are the ultimate brunch food, Gari is a Ghanaian favourite and the roasted vegetables ties it all together with a healthy kick.

Onions, parsley and sundried tomatoes went into making this a hearty and delicious frittata.
I hear the secret to a fluffy frittata is to beat the eggs well to get in as much air as possible.

I suggested that perhaps we could make our own gari!
It’s basically dry roasted cassava flakes, T&T has frozen grated cassava, surely, it can’t be that hard to make.
Several lifetimes ago, during the period my mom refers to as my magical childhood – when we lived in the middle of nowhere (living my father’s dream), we’d make our own gari – I don’t remember the actual process, but I do recall the excitement.
Apparently making your own gari isn’t as exciting as I remembered; it’s in fact very labour intensive and not fun, so we got a bag from the African General Market on Kingsway instead.
The gari is mixed in with tomato sauce and smoked salmon giving it a softer texture, almost like mashed potato but firmer and grainier.

My mom loved the roasted vegetables; and rightly so… a little oil and seasoning, a bit of time in the oven and you’re rewarded with scrumptious flavourful veggies. It’s nutritious, goes with everything and perfect as a side dish drizzled with a bit of balsamic vinegar.

You’ve probably never met my mother, yet I feel I should mention this; it’s really hard to tell right away if my mom likes something… because with her everything is ‘ok’ initially, she reserves comments until days later and that can get frustrating sometimes.
My mom enjoyed this meal, I could tell when she cleared her plate; and days later she talked about how good her Mother’s Day brunch had been, I for one was glad we didn’t get her that handbag.