So what is NSHIMA anyway?
Nshima is a the staple food here. Meaning it is eaten 2-3 times a day, every day. It is made from ground maize (corn) flour known locally as mielie-meal. For breakfast they add water and cook it into a porridge, sometimes adding sugar or honey for flavor. For lunch and dinner they just a little water slowly and boil in the (mealy)-meal to be thick and serve it in lumps. The best part: You have to eat with your hands! I eat with my family most days, so I eat nsima a lot, but a few times a week I will try to cook an American style meal for myself, and usually give the leftovers to the family, which they eat with nsima as a relish (so even something like spaghetti they will still eat it with nsima, haha!

Relishes: (sides to accompany and/or “dip” nshima into)
Chicken
Beef (Cow-town or Goat-village)
Pork
Fish, fresh or dried
Kapenta (small dried fish, eyes and all)
Mbewa (field mice, I kid you not… it is roasted whole (fur, head, tail everything) over the fire on a stick, I consider it rat, haha, and yes, I have eaten it though I usually politely decline)
Dried and fried caterpillars
Inswa (fried flying termites, crunchy and actually quite tasty – have I been here too long?)
Egg (usually fried up, sometimes made in thick layers with a few vegetables)
Soya Pieces (meat alternative, made from soy beans into patties, dried – rehydrate and fry to taste)
Munkhwani – Pumpkin Leaves
Fisashi – Ground Nut (peanut) flour cooked in with leafy greens, most commonly pumpkin leaves
Lepu – Rape (kale in the states I believe)
Kabichi – Cabbage
Kholowa – Sweet Potato Leaves
Mutambe – Cow Pea Leaves
Nyemba – Cow Peas
Beans
Thelele – Okra
Eggplant
Impwa (Small little white eggplants)

MAIZE and the many ways to eat it:
Nshima…of course, mielie meal cooked into lumps
Porridge…mielie meal cooked into a thick soup-like consistency and eaten plain, with sugar, honey, lemon or other various things, commonly eaten in the morning or by small children
Boiled Fresh from the garden or field
Roasted Fresh from the garden or field
Dried kernels re-hydrated by boiling
Dried kernels roasted
Fresh popcorn

Hungry for a SNACK?
(Those with an asterisk are more common, but I’m trying to list as many as possible)
Any of the above ways to eat maize, and any of the fruit below
Boiled Egg
Boiled Pumpkin*
Boiled Mphonda (Gourd)*
Roasted Ground Nuts*
Roasted Salty Ground Nuts*
Roasted Salty/Sweet Ground Nuts
Boiled Fresh Ground Nuts *
Kandolo (big, white sweet potatoes) served: boiled, roasted, raw (children mostly)
Cassava Root (similar to a sweet potato, a little firmer in texture)
Sugarcane!*
Buns* (a small sweet roll)
Fritters (fried dough balls, much like a donut)
Meatpies (a big fried
Chips (fries)
Crisps (potato chips)
Jiggies (something like cheetos, bought in small shops, children especially like them)

FRUIT for every seasonBananas are year-round treats!
Rainy Season (Nov-Apr):
Mangos (Nov-Jan)
Guavas (Feb-Apr)
Lemons
Oranges
Pineapple
Dry Season:
Chipuete (I don’t know the english word for it) Spiky shell
Hot Season:
Papaya
Watermelon
Sweet Melons (Like small cantelope)

I haven’t seen these in parts of Zambia I’ve been to, but have had them in my travels elsewhere and some of them may be in other parts of the country if the climate is suitable for them:
Litchi
Coconut
Granadilla
Passion Fruit

This blog post was overwhelming to type and I will surely add to it as more things come to mind, but I hope this helps shed a little light into my dietary lifestyle here!