 |
| Calabacitas con Elote (Little Squash with Corn) |
A summer such as this, when Minnesota has had abundant rain, gardens are overflowing with flowers and vegetables, and fields are lush with sunflowers, sugar beets, soybeans and corn. Mile after mile of fields with sweet corn and field corn, the latter is grown for livestock, stretch on for as far as one is willing to drive. And there really is water everywhere - lakes, ponds, and sloughs, ya, there is a whole bunch of water there, ya know.
Although I have lived in Colorado longer than I lived in the north, there is something about our little town that always feels like home. The streets, arched by the tallest trees, the houses in my old neighborhood built in the early 1900s, and the downtown lined by old brick store fronts where a few businesses have survived "the largest retailer in the world" locating there a few years ago. And Northern Pacific Park, named for the rail line running by, that floods with every hard rain. Funny, as I was driving towards Fergus last week in a torrential rain storm, I was wondering if the park would be under water when I arrived, and it was. As kids, neighborhood friends and I would turn over the picnic tables and pretend they were boats and we were pirates. I'm not sure there ever were Swedish pirates, but we didn't know that, or care.
Certainly things have changed in Fergus, but not that much. The park still floods, City Cafe and Bakery is still serving good coffee and pastries to a few folks who gather there to talk about the weather, kids still walk to school, and people still greet one another when passing on the street. Some go to the same church and will stop and talk until they run out of time and need to "scoot."
On this trip, my sister, our cousin and her young children, were driving through farm country and we saw a sign by the side of the road for "Sweet Corn and Fresh Vegies." Yes, that is what the sign said, "vegies"...close enough. I pulled the car into the yard and was greeted by Farmer Wade. Wade was as much entertainer and teacher as he was farmer. He was a tall and tanned, funny Norwegian who told stories as we followed him and his three-tined pitch-fork into the gardens to pick or dig the produce we wanted. If his visitors didn't already know, he showed them how the vegetables grew, and how to properly pull corn from the stalk, rather than just handing them a bag of produce.
Walking through the tall corn, I noticed the flowering vines of a squash plant trailing on the ground near my now muddy sandals. I asked the farmer if he had planted them together and he explained that he hadn't, and that the squash vines had found their own way over to the corn. There, in the corn field north of my hometown, I knew I had found my inspiration for these recipes and the story.
Long before this country was ever visited by Europeans, Native Americans frequently planted three plants together, corn, beans, and squash. A seed from each was sown in the same mound, even though they grew in different ways. The combination was called "Three Sisters" because they believed each was a gift from God and when combined, were spiritually inseparable and destined to be together. Corn grows tall and strong and provides shade and support for the vines of the bean plants needing to climb. The roots of bean plants store, then release into the the soil, the nitrogen that the corn needs to grow. Squash vines cover the ground and help to protect from moisture evaporation and weed growth, and the spiny vines also help protect the corn from pests. Would each plant survive and produce on it's own? Yes, most likely. But together, they gain strength from one another, and rather than just survive, they thrive.
The early European settlers in this country would have starved to death in higher numbers than they did, had they not learned from the native people this instinctual and spiritual connection to growing food. Corn and beans combined created complete nutritional protein that kept their bodies strong. Squash, actually a fruit since it grows from a flower, provided a multitude of vitamins and minerals. Native Americans learned how to plant and eat in this manner through hundreds of years of observing which plants flourished when combined, and how their bodies reacted to eating them together. They didn't need scientists or fertilizers, just their own nourishing wisdom.
The Native American, Three Sisters connection of combined planting is a powerful metaphor for life that I don't think I can do justice in my blog, other than to say that I was happy to have been reminded of it's message. The recipes today are dedicated to my own three sisters and our brother, who grew up in the same little town in Minnesota. Even though we are in different places, we'll share our strengths, remember each other's gifts, and grow stronger. And we'll always be together.
The first recipe is a much healthier version of "Three Bean Salad" that is at most Minnesota picnics, and my sister, Julie, loves. The original dish has a lot of sugar and this recipe has the same flavor with no white sugar.
If you can't get to a Farmer's Market to buy local produce, SmartCo Foods has Olathe sweet corn (grown in Colorado!) for .20 an ear and zucchini, yellow squash, green beans and tomatoes are all on sale as well.
Three Sister's Marinated Salad
1 lb. corn, fresh or frozen
1 - 15 oz. can red beans
1 cup zucchini. Cut squash lengthwise in quarters and slice.
1/2 cup red onion, sliced (add more if you love red onion)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
Dressing - Mix all in a covered jar and shake until combined. Toss with veggies and put in covered container in refrigerator. Best if refrigerated for a couple hours or over night.
2 T. fresh lime juice
1 clove pressed fresh garlic
2.5 T. white wine vinegar
2 T. honey
2 T. olive oil
1/3 tsp. ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
Calabacitas con Elote (Little Squash with Corn)
1 T. vegetable oil
1 cup diced white or yellow onion
2 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut in 1" chunks.
2-3 cups fresh corn, cut from the cob
2 cups fresh diced tomatoes
1 T. butter
1-1/2 tsp. ground cumin
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1- 4 oz. can diced green chilies, drained
1 - 15 oz. can black beans, drained
salt and pepper
Diced Avocado, or grated jack or cheddar cheese for topping
In 10" skillet over medium heat, saute onion in oil for about a minute. Add zucchini, corn and butter and cook about 3-4 minutes until juice starts to release from both. Add tomatoes, spices, garlic, salt and pepper to taste, green chilies and cook about another 4 - 5 minutes until vegetables are crisp tender. Stir the beans in to heat through. Serve as a side dish to chicken or fish, use as a burrito or quesadilla filling. This is a complete vegetarian meal. Delish!
We just returned from a week at Detroit Lakes and I must say I miss the corn already! My in-laws have a lake house there and it is worth the 11 hour drive just for the fresh corn.
ReplyDelete