Hello there! I’m Affiong

Plant Based Food Explorer & Advocate

Exploring plant based foods one ingredient at a time

Yes, I am exploring the world of plant based foods, as well as being a trained plant based chef and advocate for adopting a plant based lifestyle. A 3X food entrepreneur, I am one of those people who has way too many cookbooks and who dreams about food and what to do with it all the time. Besides food, photography and travel are my other passions. It is from my travels around the world that I draw inspiration for the food ideas I conjure up in my head, that end up as creations I dish out on plates and capture through my lens. My journey on this path to eating well-thier is on-going and my goal is to share my learnings with others.

My double date with a surgical knife led me to adopt plant based lifestyle

My foray into living a plant based lifestyle began due to health reasons. As I was being rolled into the operating theater for a major surgery for the second time, the only thought running through my head before the anesthesia kicked in was “how did I get back here?”. The only thing that had not changed between my first and second dates with the surgical knife was my diet. Clearly this had to change. 

As I began to explore food more deeply, I soon realized that plant based foods not only heal, but also look and taste absolutely amazing. By understanding the basics I soon realized that there are so many ways to eat cabbage (and every other plant based food) and decided this endeavor was going to be a fun one. A long story cut quite short, my journey with food led me to become a professionally trained plant-based chef, but now I just love to make food anyone can prepare in their own kitchens pretty easily.. 

I’m not a fan of labels, but use them to get the point across 

Some will call me vegan, as I don’t consume or use any animal products or by-products. It’s easier for most people to understand what I’m talking about when using the ‘V’ word, so you’ll hear/see me use it here and there. It’s a descriptor. My recipes feature whole food plant based ingredients. So, think fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, grains, legumes, starches, nuts and seeds. Basically, I love eating food that is as close to natural as possible as much as possible. Personally I am gluten sensitive, so you will find most of the recipes here are ‘sans gluten’. I do consume some food in packets but for me the ingredients in packaged foods are key – the fewer the better. Both cooked and raw foods end up on my plate, but in my opinion they all taste absolutely fantastic. 

My creations are influenced by my connections to the African Diaspora

I’m a tri-culture kid born and raised by Nigerian parents in the UK and naturalized in the US. My connection to food started at a young age. My mother was a trained chef and I spent my early life beside her in the kitchen baking cakes and pies. When not doing that, we were out foraging for berries, picking fruit from trees around the small village I grew up in and growing our vegetables. I learned about Nigerian food through my mother until I finally got to live in Nigeria myself as an adult and got to dive into the food culture first hand.

I advocate for adopting a plant based way of eating, because what we eat can truly heal us

If just one person adopts a plant based way to living after crossing my path, my job here is done! What we eat can truly heal us. And, if we don’t need healing, that’s ok – there’s not harm in eating good food. I truly believe that for those who are ready to receive the information and make some changes to what they put on their plates – that sharing is caring. Cooking exciting food is neither boring, bland nor difficult. There are plenty of foods to explore and in many cases it’s a matter of taking one step outside of one’s comfort zone to savor some new flavors and textures. It took me a while to find my footing in food, and plant based food specifically, but the journey is truly amazing. I invite you to come along for the ride.