Vegan Recipe of the Month - January

This month’s recipe comes from the Cultural Center of the Chickasaw Nation. As they describe it:

The Three Sisters is a vegetable medley of corn, squash, and beans that are planted together so each plant can support and nourish each other. Corn, beans, and squash have provided nutrition for the Chickasaw people for generations ... The beans grew up the cornstalks, which were strong enough to hold the weight. The squash grew out and covered the ground, keeping out the weeds and keeping in the moisture. These plants provided for each other, just as they provided for Chickasaw families.

Although most Chickasaw are not vegetarian, their diet is heavily plant-based, and the Green Corn Ceremony is a key historic celebration of the Chickasaw Nation—a four-day period of spiritual renewal and thanksgiving for the first fruits of the harvest.

Recipe:

        2 cups onions, diced
        6 cups water
        2 cans diced tomatoes, no salt added (14.5-oz. can)
        6 cups red skinned potatoes, cubed
        1 can tomato sauce, no salt added (15-oz. can)
        1 cup corn, frozen
        1 cup yellow squash, diced
        1 can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (15.5-oz. can)
        1 can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed (15.5-oz. can)
        ½ can quick cooking barley
        4 garlic cloves, minced
        1 ½ teaspoon black pepper

In a large stockpot, add all ingredients. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Serve immediately.

Impa'chi  (Let's eat!)

About the Chickasaw Nation: 

With passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Chickasaw Tribe was relocated from their ancestral homeland in the Mississippi Valley via the “Trail of Tears” to a section of the Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. Today some 35,000 Chickasaw people live in their 7,600 square mile territory. A 1970 public law reestablished their tribal government and in 1983 they were federally recognized as the Chickasaw Nation. Since then, the Nation’s revenues from its large number of casinos and other enterprises have allowed them to provide extensive benefits for their citizens, including universal health care, as well as to build their Chickasaw Cultural Center to help promote and preserve their history, culture, language, and values—and recipes!