Celebrate Indigenous culture with your own prairie feast
Normally, Chef Jenni Lessard and the team at Wanuskewin Heritage Park in Saskatoon would be gearing up to host hundreds of school tours the week of National Indigenous People's Day. There would be live music performances, dance performances, cultural teachings, and of course, food!
But 2020 has been anything but normal. Wanuskewin celebrations will be virtual this year with a Facebook Live event broadcasting at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 21. (Visit www. facebook.com/wanuskewin) Although people can't gather together this year to celebrate NIPD, it's the perfect opportunity to prepare some tasty Indigenous dishes to share with your family on the summer solstice weekend.
Lessard says this year she'll be quietly savouring a cup of coffee and some cinnamon buns with her dad and sister on summer solstice—treasuring the bonds of family after a long time of separation.
To help you and your family honour the traditions of the Indigenous prairie nations, Lessard has shared two recipes that will bring to your table the flavours of the land. The top chef at Wanuskewin also offers an opportunity to embrace some Indigenous and local suppliers who can add unique textures and flavours to all your cooking this summer.
The approach to creating dishes at Wanuskewin is to seek out ingredients produced by Indigenous suppliers first where possible. If an ingredient can't be accessed that way, they seek out local producers such as Floating Gardens Greenhouse, Pineview Farms, Spruce Cheese, and more.
Lessard shares one of the new menu items at Wanuskewin which will be available when the restaurant reopens. The Three Sisters Power Bowl is vegan, but can be topped with your choice of protein, such as smoked whitefish or trout.
“The three sisters of squash, corn, and beans have been the three main companion planting crops of Indigenous people for thousands of years,” explains Lessard. “The corn provides support for the beans, the beans fix nitrogen in the soil and the squash gives ground cover, eliminating weeds. And the three crops taste wonderful in a dish together!”
This power bowl takes a little extra planning and effort, but is a “colourful symphony of flavours and textures,” according to Lessard. “As you prepare and eat it, think of the thousands of years it took Indigenous people to domesticate maize, squash, and beans, perfect the growing technique, and create thousands of ways to prepare them together to nourish their families.”
The second recipe Lessard shares is a classic Indigenous food—bannock. She includes instructions on how to cook it over a stick in fire, along with notes suggesting where ingredients can be sourced.
THREE SISTERS POWER BOWL SALAD Squash Vinaigrette:
2 cups squash, any variety, peeled and chopped (Wally's Urban Market Garden)
1 cup cold pressed canola oil (North Prairie Gold of Saskatoon)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar 6 juniper berries, crushed (Boreal Heartland of La Ronge)
¼ cup maple syrup (Awazabi Pure Maple Syrup of Quebec, Turtle Island's only Indigenous, community-owned maple syrup company)
Salt and pepper to taste
To make:
Boil squash just until tender. Drain, reserving liquid for another use as it is full of goodness! Let squash cool, then put in a blender or food processor with the rest of the ingredients and pulse until smooth. Taste and add more seasoning, syrup or vinegar until it suits you. (Freezes well.)
For the corn:
2 cups corn niblets, preferably fresh from the cob, but frozen or canned will work 2 tbsp. minced onion
½ tsp. cumin seeds
½ tsp. salt
1/8 cup canola oil
Half a dried, crumbled ancho chile pepper or ¼ tsp. chili flakes
To make:
Toss the corn with the seasonings, onion, and oil and roast at 400°F on a baking sheet for 20 minutes until slightly charred. You could also use whole corn on the cob in foil on the barbecue and cut the kernels off after roasting. Toss with seasonings, onions and oil. Let cool.
The rest of the players:
2 cups cooked tepary, cranberry, Romano, or pinto beans
1 cup wild rice, popped in a smoking hot cast iron pan
Greens (pictured with organic arugula)*
To assemble:
Find your prettiest bowl, perhaps crafted by a local Indigenous artist. Place a generous handful of greens at the bottom, then a sprinkling of beans, then corn. Drizzle with squash vinaigrette and top with the wild rice and enjoy! Serves 4-6
*Try Floating Gardens’ Greens Elegance Blend as well as Askiy Garden Greens when in season. Or the adventurous could carefully forage for untreated dandelion greens.
BANNOCK
“This recipe was given to me by my late Aunt Ruth. I adapted it to use half whole wheat flour for extra fibre and flavour. This is the recipe we use at Wanuskewin and we will be selling it as a dry mix in the restaurant once we reopen.” – Chef Jenni
Ingredients:
3 cups whole wheat flour 3 cups white flour
1/8 cup (handful) brown sugar ½ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. baking powder
½ cup oil
3 to 4 cups cold water
To make baked bannock:
Combine dry ingredients, then add oil, and 4 cups of water. Mix just until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Works best to use clean hands rather than a wooden spoon. Dough will be almost like a cake batter. Bake in a circle on an ungreased pan at 350°F for about 35-40 minutes until golden on top.
To make bannock on a stick:
Mix dry ingredients and 3 cups of water. Turn out onto a floured board and knead a few times, adding a bit more flour until the dough is only slightly sticky. Divide into 12 equal pieces. Flatten into strips about 5 inches long. Using a stick peeled at one end, wind dough around the stick, pinching together at the top and bottom. Cook over the fire, turning often to avoid too much burning. (Some is inevitable!) Make sure bannock is cooked thoroughly before eating.