Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky
Modern Plant-Based Recipes using Native American Ingredients
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
This enriching cookbook celebrates eight important plants Native Americans introduced to the rest of the world: corn, beans, squash, chile, tomato, potato, vanilla, and cacao—with more than 100 recipes.
When these eight Native American plants crossed the ocean after 1492, the world’s cuisines were changed forever. In Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky, James Beard Award-winning author and chef Lois Ellen Frank introduces the splendor and importance of this Native culinary history and pairs it with delicious, modern, plant-based recipes using Native American ingredients. Along with Native American culinary advisor Walter Whitewater, Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky shares more than 100 nutritious, plant‑based recipes organized by each of the foundational ingredients in Native American cuisine as well as a necessary discussion of food sovereignty and sustainability.
A delicious, enlightening celebration of Indigenous foods and Southwestern flavors, Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky shares recipes for dishes such as Blue Corn Hotcakes with Prickly Pear Syrup, Three Sisters Stew, and Green Chile Enchilada Lasagna, as well as essential basics like Corn Masa, Red and Green Chile Sauces, and Cacao Spice Rub. The “Magic 8” ingredients share the page—and plate—to create recipes that will transform your world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Each chapter of this sophisticated debut from Santa Fe caterer Frank, whose Diné business partner, Walter Whitewater, serves here as adviser, is dedicated to one of the "magic eight" plants "that native peoples gave to the world": beans, cacao, chiles, corn, potatoes, squash, tomatoes, and vanilla. Chapter introductions are thorough and edifying, and Frank successfully pairs history and tradition with straightforward recipes that incorporate modern conveniences such as vegan butter. While there are classic dishes, including "three sisters" stew with corn, beans, and squash, and frybread cooked without fat in a cast-iron skillet, many options innovate further, including eggless pasta made with blue cornmeal and a pumpkin pie with arrowroot-thickened filling in a pine nut and pecan crust. The occasional vegan standard feels like filler, such as an heirloom tomato salad with balsamic dressing, but the majority of the recipes are exciting and clever: a butternut squash puree incorporates apple and coconut milk; black beans are simmered with chipotles and chocolate; and sweet potatoes are used to make masa for tamales with no added fat—an outgrowth of work the author does to combat diabetes. Thoughtful and informative, this is a strong addition to a long underpublished category.
