Celebrate the original American kitchen with Chef Louis Elaine Frank, PhD star-news.press/wp

Chef Louis Elaine Frank met, a PhD was a pleasure to speak with Dr. Frank about her work and food and the original American kitchen. Read and enjoy its recipe for the delicious bean tank and spinach.

Please tell us a little about yourself and your work.

My name is Luis Elaine Frank, and I am from Santa in, a chefs in New Mexico cooking alongside Chef Witr White Water in Red Mesa Kousin, LLC, a small company specialized in the original American cuisine. We focus on the original kitchen and cultural education, and work to stimulate the original American cuisine. Mix recently and prepare foods with health and well -being ingredients. Together, we were working with societies in the southwest for more than 30 years. Our latest cooking book, From the seeds to the dish, the soil to the sky: modern vegetable recipes using the original American componentsIt was released in the fall of 2023 and focuses on the eighth magic, eight plants in which the original peoples participated with the world. We also work with the PCRM committee on the PCRM The ability to heal diabetes: food for life in the Indian country The program, which uses the original American diet for health and wellness in indigenous American societies throughout the United States to reinforce healthy foods for ancestors, and re -provide them to healthy foods. (Learn more in www.nativepowerplate.org))

Can you discuss discussion of the food movement in the indigenous American community? How can this enhance better health and wellness?

Using healthy foods from the past grandparents, including Magic Eight (corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, tomatoes, potatoes, vanilla, and cocoa), and increasing the amount of plant foods in the current American standard diet (SAD), the movement of original American foods works to restore the foods of wires to well -being; Activating traditional cooking techniques and associated recipes; Educating and educating children, adolescents, university students and adults about the importance of traditional foods and the role they play in health and wellness; Developing cooking professionals in both the theory and technology of the kitchen; Development of specialized workshops designed towards individual needs and the group that include (but not limited to) health, nutrition, team building, youth development and enhancement of technical skills, as well as other social and professional development; Creating awareness of traditional and contemporary American cooking customs and techniques that include the concepts of sustainable agriculture, health and nutrition; And emphasize how to improve the health benefits of the ancestral vegetarian diet, and link community members to healthy grandparents.

Can you tell us about the eighth magic? What are they, and what is the history of these foods?

The eight magic is eight plants that the original peoples gave to the world: corn, beans, squash, pepper, tomatoes, potatoes, vanilla and cocoa. Before 1492, these plants were only in the Americas. Once these plants are presented to the cultures of the world outside the Americas, their foods were changed forever. These eight plants, which are now found in almost every cuisine around the world, are an original American by their nature, and they are an important part of our kitchen, and the basis for the foods we cook in Mesa Red Kitchen. Think of this: The Italians did not have tomatoes until after 1492. The Irish did not have potatoes. In Britain, they had fish, but no chips. The Russians did not have potatoes, and they did not advance the lives of potatoes. There was no chilis in any east Indian food dishes, including curry, and no chilis is not in any Asian cuisine at all. In fact, Chiles have not been introduced in South Asia until the sixteenth century when it comes to control the trade of global spices in the sixteenth century. Vanilla and cocoa were not used in any sweets dishes before 1492. International cuisine as we know today was completely different!

How was these eight magic foods used in the original American cuisine historically against the modern kitchen?

These foods are used in several ways. Corn, beans, and squash (and still) were presented together. Chef and liter think about them as a family. They grow together and eat together. Chile, tomatoes and potatoes are often used in the past, as they are today, as their flavors work well together and they are night plants. Vanilla and cocoa are sweet sisters and are often associated together. In our cooking book The seeds to the dish, and the soil to the skyWe participated in some of the very traditional grandparents recipes that include these amazing eight plants and presented some new and creative ways to eat them in both delicious and sweet dishes.

Is there a way that can be better supported by local food systems so that more of these plants can be cultivated and accessible?

We are very blessed in New Mexico. There are many farmers in northern New Mexico where I live, and they plant many types of corn, beans, squash, hot pepper, tomatoes and potatoes, so it is easy for a person to live here to buy many of these plants and integrate them into their diet. It is also easy to grow your own garden here, even in a small space. The purchase of the local Santa Farmers market helps to support farmers and perpetuate the growth of these important crops. More indigenous American societies implement gardens for members of their community and the increasing traditional varieties of these amazing plants, which makes these foods available at reasonable prices for those who really need them. Programs such as WIC, Snap-Ed and FDPIR include the products cultivated by New Mexico as part of their distribution programs, chef and liter and we are working hard to teach people how to use plants in delicious and nutritious dishes.

Are there other less famous plants used in the original American cuisine that you want to highlight?

The original American cuisine is regional, so the popular factory in one society in a region of the United States may not be common in another region. It also depends on what grows in each region. For example, wild rice grows in the lake areas, which is a very important and holy food for the societies that live there. Where I live, wild plant foods play an important part of the diet. I would like to eat wild lettuce and spinach, wild profile, and edible flowers. There are many herbs from this area that play an important role in this kitchen – both wild and cultivated plants. I think more plants, that was better. I love plants, chefs and liters as I try to honor plants and eat seasonal when they are available. We also use cooking ash to increase nutrients and minerals in some of our corn dishes.

What does the original American heritage mean to you?

This is a difficult question. For me, food is medicine. I try to make gratitude and appreciation for the reward for foods and plants in my life every day – not just one month per year. However, if people can estimate the plants that the original Americans shared with the world and honor the contribution of the original Americans to the foods we eat every day, this makes me happy. Many people are unaware of the contribution made by the original peoples to the foods that we eat every day, including corn, beans, squash, metasta, tomatoes, potatoes, vanilla and cocoa. When these foods are prepared in a healthy way and traditional environmental knowledge (TEK) surrounding these plants is activated, this is all related to them. And when people are fed these foods, they are sponsored, and the knowledge and importance of this knowledge are honored.

Pinto delicious and spinach taco sandwiches

This recipe is quoted from The seeds to the dish, and the soil to the skyIt is a wonderful mixture of fresh fried spinach vegetables with cooked beans. It is easy to offer a healthy and nutritious meal. I use organic spinach, which is now easily available, and if you don’t want to cook a full amount of fresh beans, the juicy beans are canned from the grocery store. 2 teaspoons of roasted garlic (about 8 cloves) 3 medium Rome tomatoes, cubes (about 1 cup) ½ large white onions, cubes (about 2/3 cup) 3 chopped spinach cups roughly 1½ cups cooked in pinto pills or one 15.5 ounces Fresh black pepper tree

Heat a small frying pan of cast iron over high heat until hot.

Prepare the roasted garlic.

Heat the medium blossom iron frying pan to the large over medium -sized heat until it is hot, then add garlic, tomatoes and onions, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Add the spinach, and cook for two minutes. After that, add the pills and stir black pepper, and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly to prevent combustion.

Served in your favorite corn or flour. (I love this dish either with corn tortilla or tortilla flour the size of Gordita.)

Top with Pico De Gallo Salsa Fresh and Homemade Jokamol, if desired. Immediately service.

It makes 6 taco sandwiches.

You can find Chef Louis Elaine Frank here.