Terrain V01 - Journal - Page 25
Sterling College | 23
Three Sisters
This past summer I had the pleasure to cook for the celebration of
trustee Don Stevens, Chief of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation. When initially tasked with creating a menu for the
event, I knew I wanted to cook something special and fitting for the
occasion. While we were deep in the war on cucumbers and summer
squash, I opted out of the classic summer repertoire, and went with
a simple dish honoring the Three Sisters. The Three Sisters are the
three main agricultural crops of the indigenous peoples that stewarded our land long before we came along.
I make a valiant attempt at cultivating my own garden every year,
but as a cook, summer does not lend itself to much time tending
said garden, so inevitably weeds overtake most of it. The beauty of
the Three Sisters is that they work together as they grow, the corn
provides structure for beans to climb, the beans add nitrogen to the
soil, and the squash provides competitive ground cover. As someone who simply does not weed, this is great news.
When coming up with this dish I thought of a lot of really interesting
ways I could adapt the Three Sisters, but I realized very quickly it
was not necessary to fuss with something so simple and so good
- and better to amplify the ingredients and let them speak for themselves. The Three Sisters are also great storage crops, which means
this dish can be enjoyed any season of the year.
Ingredients:
1 medium squash
- crookneck or red curry
4 ears of corn
- shucked, or 3 cups of cooked corn
½ cup of dried beans - pinto or great
northern (this variety is Marfax),
soaked overnight
1 large red onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbs of olive oil
¼ cup of maple syrup
2 tbs lemon juice
½ bunch of parsley, roughly chopped
salt & pepper to taste
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350ºF
Prepare the beans: Bring 3 cups of water
and beans to a boil. Cook until the beans
are tender, but not mushy. Drain.
Prepare the corn: Bring a medium pot of
water to a boil. Shuck the ears of corn,
and drop into boiling water. Boil for 8
minutes, and remove. Let cool. Meanwhile prepare the squash: peel squash
and remove seeds and pulp (the seeds
can be saved). Dice the squash into ½”
cubes. After the corn has cooled, cut the
kernels from the cob.
Transfer the prepared squash, beans and
corn to a large bowl, reserve bowl. Toss
vegetables with olive oil and maple syrup. Transfer to a greased baking sheet or
roasting pan. Roast in a preheated oven
for 25-30 minutes, occasionally stirring.
When vegetables are lightly caramelized,
remove from the oven and transfer back
to the bowl. Toss cooked vegetables in
lemon juice and parsley, and season to
taste. Serve warm.