A basket of freshly foraged, early spring nettles. Nettles are one of the highlighted ingredients for this first blog of the recipe series. Photo courtesy of Elise Krohn.
The Cross-Pacific Indigenous Aquaculture Collaborative Network (IACN) is thrilled to announce the beginning of our recipe series that will celebrate Indigenous coastal food systems and traditions. A goal of the IACN is to bring awareness to and support the continuation of traditional practices around aquaculture and coastal resource management, which includes Indigenous food sovereignty. The acts of growing, cultivating and eating are healing in so many ways, from honoring intergenerational learning of food customs, to the transfer of language, knowledge and stories that occur in Indigenous food traditions and ceremonies. Through processing, cooking and serving food, strong relationships are built with the land and with one another. We want to honor the deep connections between people, seasons and places through food.
We build momentum from previous recipes posted on our site hat feature connections between people and delicious traditional foods, such as Emily Akamine’s article on The Resilience of Limu and the description of her grandmother’s soy-vinegar ogo seaweed recipe, or Dolly Garza’s Bull Kelp Chow Chow recipe. In this new series, we showcase recipe contributions from members of our collaborative and other community partners. This is a celebration of Indigenous foods: the knowledge handed down through generations in kitchens, fish camps and seafood bakes, as well as modern takes on wild and place-based foods.
Community leaders have been working for many years to revitalize Indigenous food practices to ensure the perpetuation of care-taking, knowledge and access to traditional foods. We are grateful for friends and teachers who have been at the forefront of this work, uplifting one another in a resurgence of Indigenous food sovereignty. For this first blog post, we are excited to share two seasonal recipes from our partners Elizabeth Campbell and Elise Krohn, two incredible leaders and knowledge holders of traditional food systems in Washington.
A picture of the Tend, Gather & Grow Program Team. Photo courtesy of the GRuB website.
GRuB’s Tend, Gather & Grow Program
Elizabeth and Elise are educators, herbalists, and native plant specialists. They are both a part of the Tend, Gather and Grow curriculum development team and lead educational workshops and teacher training through GRuB’s Wild Foods and Medicines Program. GRuB is a community nonprofit which works at the intersection of food, education, and health systems to cultivate healthy communities and food systems. The Tend curriculum is a K-12 place-based teaching toolkit emphasizing native and naturalized plants of the Pacific Northwest region as well as the cultures and traditions linked to native foods. The curriculum emphasizes hands-on activities that allow students to reflect on themes in cultural ecosystems while learning about food traditions. Tend centers Indigenous plant knowledge and weaves stories, culture and traditions of Northwest Native American communities throughout its curriculum. To learn more about this curriculum, as well as the Wild Foods and Medicines Program, check out the new curriculum portal as well as the new website.
“Through discovering the wonders of plant life, youth build skills in food security, health, social/emotional intelligence and land stewardship.”
Recipes: Nettles and Wild Greens
As we near the end of winter, spring nettles are starting to push up, announcing the transition of the seasons. We welcome this seasonal change with two recipes that showcase the beauty of nettle and other early spring greens to incorporate into our meals. A big thank you to Elise Krohn and Elizabeth Campbell for sharing these recipes!
Wild Greens Pesto
Recipe courtesy of the “Tend, Gather and Grow Curriculum.”
Photo Courtesy of Valerie Segrest (Muckleshoot).
Many types of wild greens can be used for this recipe, including nettle, chickweed, dandelion, lamb’s quarters and arugula. Try tossing this with pasta, potatoes or cooked vegetables. It can also be used on crackers or fresh vegetables as a snack. Try making nettle bruschetta by spreading the pesto on sliced bread with some extra Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
Ingredients:
1 small bag (about 6 cups) of young fresh nettles, chickweed or other wild greens
½ cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated
⅓ cup walnuts, pine nuts, cashews or other nuts
⅓ cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: 1 bunch basil with stems removed, zest of 1 lemon
Instructions:
Wash greens. If you are using nettles, use tongs or gloves to handle the leaves, and blanch the nettles in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes to remove the sting. Drain, let cool, and roughly chop. Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place the pesto in a clean jar and pour a little extra olive oil over the top. Cover with a lid. This will keep for 2 to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.
Elizabeth’s Nettle Pine Nut Meatloaf
Recipe courtesy of Elizabeth Campbell, “Feeding the People, Feeding the Spirit.”
Cook Time: 90 minutes
Serves: 6
A basket of freshly foraged, early spring nettles. Photo courtesy of Elise Krohn.
This meatloaf is lower in fat than your typical meatloaf and higher in protein due to the pine nuts and stinging nettles.
Ingredients:
1 lb. free-range ground elk, deer or turkey
1 cup chopped freshly blanched or frozen stinging nettles (thawed and drained)
¾ cup milk (hazelnut, rice, goat or cow)
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon dry ground mustard
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon dry fennel
½ teaspoon dry rosemary
¼ teaspoon dry thyme
1 large egg
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 slices bread, torn into pieces or ½ cup breadcrumbs
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and spread in a rectangular bread pan. Bake uncovered until the loaf reaches 180 degrees, about an hour and fifteen minutes. Let the meatloaf rest for five minutes, then serve and enjoy.
Olivia Horwedel is the current Communications Fellow for the Cross-Pacific Indigenous Aquaculture Collaborative Network.