I initially started this website as a way to share indigenous plant recipes. I developed indigenous sourced products as a way to support indigenous farmers and their plant varieties as well as fund this website without having to monetize it with commercial ads. We have all been to food blogs that have a million pop-ups and videos all over the screen. This just didn't feel right to me, so to keep this website ad free I knew I had to sell something that aligned with my mission. Little did I know how well my mission would be received in my local community as well as the larger online community. Feeling the love from people has made my business goals and ideas for the future change and grow for the better. I have been working with some really amazing people who are further in the food industry than me, and are helping guide me in building a future where native plant foods can be in the spotlight, consumed regularly, and ultimately continue to be planted for the next generations.
I have been so blessed to meet with people who care about all the things I do and are willing to help further this dream of mine. I did a wonderful catered meal for a group of powerful women who make a difference in their communities. We had two successful events with one indigenous plant sale that sold out. I linked up with a few business owners locally who want to collaborate on special indigenous dinners. I came across a few local stores excited to carry my products. I was able to meet a wonderful business woman who has grown from making her food at home to owning her own building and shipping her products to big stores all around the country. This amazing soul is as beautiful in person as she is on paper. She loved what my company is trying to do, and offered for me to use her FDA approved kitchen to produce products that can be sold & shipped anywhere. I have some different programs in the works with a few non-profits that aim to help minority communities grow their own dreams. I couldn't have done this without the help of others and so, it is important to me that Ch'il Indigenous Foods invests time, energy, & funds back into the people. I am really excited to announce those programs when all the details have been finalized!
Between all the behind the scenes work , networking, and getting ready for Colorado Vegfest, I also have been planting, cooking, and wild harvesting. When I wild harvest I always make sure to never strip the plant of all its abundance, I do not take more than I need, I always assess the health of plants before harvesting, I offer blessings to the plants, and I make sure to leave enough for the wild animals and pollinators. Sometimes this leaves me with less then I would like, but I feel good knowing I can come back to these areas and continue to see the plants thriving . We must honor the plants for the bounty they give us by caring about their future. If we treat the plants with respect, they will continue to grow and give the animals and us, plenty to eat !
When you wild harvest it brings a different energy, connection, and flavor to your food. I love sharing this way of life with my children. It makes me feel like I am sharing a little bit of who my ancestors were and things they would do. I love that they are tasting and loving foods my ancestors once ate. My favorite part has been seeing my 3 year old son get so excited to pick wild berries and flowers and take them home to eat. He can be very impatient and will sneak in bites as much as he can while we gather. It is important that I teach him how to gather without damaging the plant, how much to gather, and when to move on. All of which is a bit hard for him to understand fully. But once we are home and ready to cook he is so ready to eat. I can tell how amazed he is that we will be eating what we went to harvest. He will keep leading me back to our food if I don't start cooking right away in hopes that I will drop everything and make a dish for him!
I love his energy, I love his excitement, and I hope that this little blog of mine helps to inspire others to embrace this way of being as well.
In Colorado the rains have brought such an abundance of wild plant foods. There are certain plants just ready to be eaten and the recipe below includes a few of those!
Remember to only eat what you can be sure of is healthy & safe. If you are ever unsure of what plant you are harvesting from, do not eat it. It is better to be safe then sorry.
When Harvesting your yucca flowers, try a little piece of one from each plant. Sometimes they can be a little bitter depending on how long they have been in bloom. The good to eat ones are crispy, refreshing, & tasty. If you taste a lot of bitterness , leave that plant alone and try another.
Mashed potato, pinon, & chile Blue Corn Balls stuffed into yucca flowers
Ingredients
5-6 Medium Boiled Until Soft Potatoes ( Or a mix of 1/2 potato 1/2 sunchoke)
1/2 Cup Cooked Beans ( I used black beans. You can add any kind as long as they are rinsed)
1/2 Onion Diced ( I used Red Onion. Optional- add a bit of shallot)
3 Pieces Of Chopped Garlic
2- 3 Tablespoons of Chopped Up Pinon Nuts ( Can replace with sunflower seeds as well)
1 Tablespoon Roasted Red Hatch Chile Powder ( I used my own brand sold in my online
store. You can use chili powder, or combination of paprika & chili powder )
1 Diced Green Pepper ( I used a Jalapeno . You can used a Bell Pepper for less spice. )
Optional Oil for Sautéing Veggies & and Frying coated potato balls ( You can use veggies broth instead and you can pan cook or air fry if you want less oil/no frying )
Blue Corn & Juniper Ash Flour ( I used the flour from my online store. You can use blue corn, yellow corn, or white corn if you would like. Please let me know how this turns out as I have not tried it. Make sure the corn flour you use is finely ground.)
1/2 cup Plant milk ( you can blend a couple teaspoons of seeds with water until well blended to make your own from pinons or sunflower seeds)
Yucca Flowers Rinsed Well & The Pistil Removed
Salt to taste
Directions
1. Add a couple teaspoons of oil or broth to a sauté pan heated to medium-level heat.
2. Add diced onion and peppers and stir until partially cooked.
3. add garlic and pinons to the onion mix. Cook until onions are translucent and pinons are golden.
4. Add Chile powder to this mix and stir on heat for 2 minutes.
5. Transfer this mixture to a bowl and set aside.
6. Add boiled potatoes and beans to the onion mixture bowl and mash together. You can add some of the boiled water to the mix if it is too dry. Or you can add plant milk instead. My mixture needed about 1/3 cup liquid to get a mashed potato type texture. Add liquid slowly as too much will make it hard to roll into balls. You can make this with sunchokes as well, I tried both and they were very delicious!
7. Add salt to taste ( I added about 2 tsp). Add salt, mix well, taste, then add more as needed.
8. Roll mashed potato mixture into balls about the size of the inside of palm. They should be small enough to be stuffed into your yucca flowers. If your mixture won't roll easily and sticks too much to your hand, you added to much liquid. You can either add more potato or cook down the mixture a little bit to get rid of some of the moisture.
9. Put out two small bowls, one filled with plant milk + 1 tablespoon of corn flour. Another filled with the blue corn & juniper ash flour. I added a dash of salt to the blue corn but this is purely optional.
10. Dip potato balls into the plant milk/flour mix and completely coat them.
11. Roll dipped potato balls into the dry blue corn flour until well coated. You want to make sure they are coated enough to create a layer around the potato ball. You shouldn't see potato sticking out of the blue corn coating. This will make sure you get a crispy outside coating.
12. Heat Oil to 350 degrees in a pan for frying. The oil needs to be high enough to cover half the ball. Alternatively you can roast these in a cast iron pan by rolling them around until the corn coating is cooked. You can also place in an air fryer at 400 degrees for about 12-15 min. Half way through stop air fryer to move the balls around for even cooking.
13. Place a few coated balls into the oil. Let cook for about 30 seconds then roll it around to cook the otherside. the ball will change color and the corn coating may even get a little golden. The ball will change color from whiteish to a blue color. They should be firm if you rolled them in enough flour. If they are soft and squishy, make sure to recoat the other balls you did before frying.
14. Cook all the balls .
15. set balls into rinsed & dried yucca flowers . You can also fry up the flowers before stuffing as well . just sauté them in a pan for a minute. they will lose their crispness. Frying them up will make them taste very nutty.
ServiceBerry & Chile Sauce
Ingredients
1 Cup of Freshly Harvested Service Berries, Rinsed Well & Stems Removed
1 Chile ( I used 1/2 of a large habanero . You can use a less hot chile if you would like. )
1/4- 1/2 Cup Of Water
Optional 3 Tablespoons agave or maple syrup or sugar
Directions
Add berries and water to a pan set to medium heat.
Let berries cook down for 5 minutes.
Add optional maple syrup/ agave/ sugar.
Continue to cook down until berries are soft and bursting. If mixture is too thick and the berries are not soft, add more water 1 tablespoon at a time. If you add too much water, you can always cook it down.
Add chile pepper to a blender with the berry mixture.
Blend well. Chile should be fully mixed into the berries with little to no chunks.
Add sauce back to pan and cook for a couple of minutes to cook the chile and melt the flavors together.
Taste. If it is too spicy you can add a little bit of sugar/agave/maple syrup. If it is not spicy enough you can blend the mixture again with more pepper. If Sauce is too thick you can add water, 1 tablespoon at a time. If it is too thin, you can cook it down for a couple of minutes. It will thicken as it cools so keep this in mind.
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