Grain Bowl With Sardines and Sauce Moyo
Updated June 23, 2024
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 10 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ¼medium red onion, finely chopped
- 1small garlic clove, minced
- 1tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus more to taste
- Fine sea salt and black pepper
- ½cup fonio (see Tip)
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- ¼green bell pepper, finely chopped
- ½habanero or Scotch bonnet chile, seeded and very finely chopped
- One (4- to 5-ounce) tin smoked sardines or other fish in olive oil
Preparation
- Step 1
Combine the onion, garlic, lime juice and ½ teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Let sit to mellow the bite of the raw onion and garlic.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, bring 1 cup water and ½ teaspoon salt to a boil in a small saucepan (with a lid) over high. Stir in the fonio and 1 tablespoon oil, cover and decrease heat to low. Cook until the water is absorbed, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let sit, covered, to steam for 1 minute. Fluff with a fork.
- Step 3
Stir the tomatoes, green pepper, habanero, the remaining tablespoon olive oil and a generous grind of black pepper into the onion mixture. Taste and add more lime juice, salt and pepper as desired.
- Step 4
You can enjoy this as one big serving or two smaller ones. Scrape the fonio into a serving bowl or lunch container. Lay the sardines on top then drizzle the sardine oil all over. Spoon the sauce moyo on top and eat right away or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- TIP: Fonio is an ancient whole grain that resembles coarse sand and is prepared throughout West Africa. It's available online and in African markets; large grocery stores like Whole Foods carry the Yolélé brand.
Private Notes
Comments
The header explains in detail what Fonio is, also explains what sauce Moyo is. Please read the whole post, thank you!
To make more hearty for dinner and to use what I had: 1 cup quinoa instead of fonio, entire bell pepper, can of chickpeas, steamed broccoli, and TWO cans of sardines. the only oil i used was from the sardines. also an entire container of cherry tomatoes b/c i did not know what i would do with the leftovers. delicious
What is fonio? From context, I'm guessing it is the grain part of the bowl, but it would help to have a little more info about it in the write up.
Used Yolelé fonio that I found at my local health food store. Doubled the recipe to have for leftovers. Served it with marinated seared tempeh instead of fish (vegan family). It was a total winner for dinner! Definitely season to taste. We love lots of acidity in our grain salads. In the future, I’d cook the fonio with a little more olive oil and some ground coriander. I’d also add some green onions and cilantro for more of an herby kick. I probably wouldn’t add more olive oil if eating with canned sardines, though. I’d love to see more fonio recipes. The nutty toasty aroma is so lovely.
Did this with couscous, since we had it. Worked fine and very tasty. Careful with the habaneros!
I used what I had. Faro - cooked from the freezer - but I will be on the look-out for Fonio. And Jalapeño, celery, and Sriracha in place of the peppers. Delicious! A great lunch.