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Chef Crystal Wahpepah’s first cookbook plates up the resilience of intertribal cuisine.
Vivid green kale sat next to orange and yellow squash over a mix of beige quinoa and cream-colored hominy; purple onion cozied up with mauve tepary beans and blue and fuschia berries; and the whole thing was speckled with scarlet bits of chili from the fragrant oil drizzled over top. It was the kind of dish my eyes told me would feel good to eat, and made me think about just how much grows on this continent. The Three Sisters Veggie Bowl (recipe below) from chef Crystal Wahpepah’s cookbook A Feather and a Fork: 125 Intertribal Dishes From an Indigenous Food Warrior, which came out in March, is a signature dish of hers that features on the menu at her eponymous restaurant Wahpepah’s Kitchen in Oakland. It was the first dinner I’d ever assembled that honest-to-goodness featured every color of the rainbow.
Introducing us to this kaleidoscope of ingredients and their rich cultural histories among native peoples is part of what the James Beard–finalist is after in her first cookbook. A Feather and a Fork is not only a flavorful testament to the survival of intertribal foodways against the long, brutal odds of colonialism, but also an invitation to connect with what those foodways can offer our tastebuds, health, and planet.
Its flavors are as varied as the tribal influences that Wahpepah peppers into her cooking, with many influenced by her Kickapoo heritage (she provides the English and Kickapoo names for all of the recipes). Kickapoo chili, a recipe passed down through generations of the Oklahoma tribe of which she’s an enrolled member, combines ground bison, chilies, and tomatoes in an epazote-spiced broth thickened with blue corn flour. Her smoked salmon and berry salad calls for using fish made not with the cold-smoking method of Norwegian tradition, but a hot-smoking method developed by Indigenous people in the Pacific Northwest that results in thick and intensely flavored salmon. There’s also a dried hominy and wild turkey soup that nods knowingly to pozole, which has roots in precolonial Mexico.
Cooking as she frequently does with ingredients native to the West, Southwest, and Plains, it’s no surprise that many of Wahpepah’s recipes feature the kind of hardy foods we’ll need to cook more often as climate change accelerates. Tepary beans, in their shades of mottled white, black, and cranberry, are native to the Sonoran Desert and don’t so much as blink at scorching temperatures or paltry rain. Amaranth, which was first cultivated by the Aztecs and features in Wahpepah’s maple-flavored hot cereal, is also drought resistant. So are chokecherries, which defy their alarming name to taste uncannily like cherry candy when you cook them with enough sweetener.
It’s no accident that these native, climate-resilient ingredients are also good for you. Eating a cornucopia of native foods is a reliable way out of the woods of industrial eating and its drab pathway toward poor health. These dishes are a kind of medicine, Wahpepah writes. But they’re the kind of medicine you’ll want to take again and again. I plan to double up doses of the smoked hibiscus and sweet potato taquitos, myself.
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RECIPE: Chia Seed Pudding (Miinekaanani)
- Yield: Serves 4
Description
If chia seed pudding isn’t in your make-ahead breakfast rotation, it should be. This three-ingredient rendition by Kickapoo chef Crystal Wahpepah is not only easy as pie but also slightly tropical tasting, since it calls for coconut milk. It also works as dessert — and a healthy one at that, since the soluble fiber in chia seeds is so good for you.
Instructions
- Mix the coconut milk, chia seeds, and agave syrup in a large bowl. Cover the bowl and set it in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
- Divide the pudding among 4 clear bowls or pudding cups to show off how the seeds expand and rise to the top, creating layers.
Chia Your Way
Chia pudding is a great riffable base: Top it with seasonal fruit, homemade granola, or layer it with homemade jam. You can even experiment with different flavor profiles by adding in nut butters, spices, or cocoa powder — whatever you have on hand. It is also a great homemade staple to have in your kitchen to add to smoothies, freeze as a summertime dessert, or spread on toast.
RECIPE: Three Sisters Veggie Bowl (Neowi Ototeemetiaki Otaatopakooni)
- Yield: Serves 4
Description
A signature of Kickapoo chef Crystal Wahpepah’s and a mainstay of her eponymous restaurant Wahpepah’s Kitchen in Oakland, this hearty yet light bowl is anchored by squash, hominy, and tepary beans, a climate-ready legume indigenous to the Sonora Desert, where it evolved to take drought in stride. You can easily make substitutes in this recipe according to what’s in season, like strawberries in spring, blueberries or peaches in summer, or marinated hibiscus flowers and pomegranate seeds in winter.
Ingredients
- 1 cup white tepary beans (see note)
- 4 1/2 tsps salt, divided
- 1 small (3-5 lbs) Buffalo Creek squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed (see note)
- 4 tsps olive oil, divided
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup dried yellow or white hominy
- 1 cup tricolor quinoa
- 1 lb kale
- 1 large red onion, chopped
- 1 cup fresh blueberries and raspberries
- 1 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1 cup chopped raw walnuts
- 1 Tbsp puffed amaranth, for garnish
- 1/2 cup Maple Oil, for serving
- 1/2 cup Chili Oil, for serving
Instructions
- Rinse and sort the tepary beans, and soak them in enough water to cover for 1 hour prior to cooking. Drain the beans well, then fill a large saucepan with 8 cups of water, 1 teaspoon of salt, and the beans. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer the beans for about 2 hours, until tender. While the beans cook, prepare the other ingredients. Once the beans are done, drain them through a sieve or colander, and cool.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Toss the cubed squash in 2 teaspoons of oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, and the pepper in a bowl, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet, and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender and lightly browned.
- Bring the dried hominy, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 4 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer the hominy for 45 minutes, or until tender. Drain and cool.
- Rinse the quinoa in a fine-mesh sieve under cold running water for at least 30 seconds. Drain well. Bring the quinoa, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and the remaining water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, and let the quinoa simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let the quinoa rest for 5 minutes. Fluff the quinoa with a fork before serving.
- Rinse and pat dry the kale. Remove the stems and coarsely chop the leaves. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a large deep-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Toss the kale in the skillet for about 2 minutes, until it begins to slightly wilt. Stir in the remaining teaspoon of salt.
- To assemble the salads, divide the beans, squash, cracked corn, quinoa, kale, onions, blueberries, sunflower seeds, and walnuts equally among 4 large bowls. Serve with a sprinkling of puffed amaranth and sides of maple oil and chili oil to toss with the ingredients.
Notes
- Tepary beans can be purchased dried from the Indigenous producer Ramona Farms, or from other specialty vendors like Rancho Gordo. Canned Great Northern beans can be substituted in a pinch.
- Hubbard or butternut squash are flavorful substitutes for the Buffalo Creek squash.
- Canned sweet corn can substitute for dried hominy; just skip the cooking step.
The Three Sisters
The three sisters — beans, corn, and squash — have been planted together in Indigenous agriculture for millennia, because they grow symbiotically and can produce higher yields than monocropping. The beans fix nitrogen to enrich the soil, the skyward corn stalks give the beans a trellis to climb, and the squash suppresses weeds and provides shade with its broad leaves. Try Crystal’s Warm Three Sisters Salad With Cranberries, too!
