Recipes

Bring a Bit of Native America to Your Table!

First Nations Development Institute  with the help of some of our great grantees  is offering cookbooks and recipes from Native American tribes and organizations. Preparing some of these dishes is a great way to bring a delicious taste of Native America to your table.

We have posted three cookbooks that were developed under a project aimed at healthier cooking and improving nutrition for recipients of the USDA’s Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, or FDPIR.  And we have included various individual recipes.

First Nations’ longtime food effort – the Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative – and our newer partnerships in the FDPIR “Nutrition for Native American Communities” project and the “Seeds of Native Health” campaign, led us to think that sharing cookbooks and a few recipes — some of which use traditional Native ingredients or processes, or which can be prepared with food items in the FDPIR program — would be a wonderful way to observe Native American Heritage Month. “There is a major shift occurring in Indian Country as Native people are producing their own traditional foods on their own lands to sustain themselves, their families and their communities. This movement is an act of sovereignty and will contribute to having sustainable sources of foods. We sincerely thank our community partners for providing these cookbooks and recipes this year.

Cookbooks

The new cookbooks include a regional version called Cooking Healthier with FDPIR Foods, and two local versions from the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and the STAR School, which serves the Navajo Nation. You can read or download these cookbooks for free at these links:

(These cookbooks and other items can also be found in the FDPIR Toolkit that is located elsewhere on the First Nations website.)

Recipe

Pemmican

By Patricia Rowland

Pound meat very thin and dry in the oven. Grind the dried meat in a food processor. Add the chokecherries…

Recipe

Dry Meat Soup

By Maria Charette

Boil water in a large sauce pan, add the dry meat. This process will take a while as you need…

Recipe

Dried Berries

After picking the berries, put them, including the seeds, in a blender or food processor and blend/process into a pulp.…

Recipe

Berry Pudding (Northern Cheyennes make Chokecherry Pudding)

There are no measurements in this berry pudding. The recipe depends on the amount of berries you have.

Boil berries in a large saucepan, the water should be a couple of inches above the berries. Boil approximately 10…

Recipe

Wild Rice Hamburgers

Want to lighten up those burgers while helping to keep them moist and delicious?  If so, definitely give this recipe…

Thoroughly mix the wild rice, ground beef and optional ingredients, if desired, in a large bowl until the texture is…

Recipe

Blueberry and Peach Salsa

Blueberries have and continue to be a major food source for Great Lakes Region Indian communities in the summer; peaches…

Simply mix the ingredients and serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

Recipe

Corn, Blueberry and Wild Rice Salad

Makes 8 servings

In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil. Add corn. Cook covered for 5 minutes, or until tender.…

Recipe

Double Cornbread Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350° F. Spray muffin liners with…

Recipe

Three Sisters Soup

From Donna LaChapelle and Patricia Chandler Makes 4 servings

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 3 to 5 minutes or…