Broccoli Rising and a Hill of Beans for Indigenous Peoples Day.
Imagine how different our world would be if some 500 years ago, Native Americans had thought to deport Columbus. They could hardly be blamed; the guy was clearly crazypants, showing up out of the blue and claiming America for Spain. Like the land was his.
The Indigenous People didn’t kick Columbus out. They even gave him and other colonizers a few parting gifts, including beans. A few centuries on, beans are having a moment, as well they should. They’re the gift that keeps on giving. They’re sustainable, affordable, versatile, and the original plant-based protein. So what do you do with beans? Oh, honey, how much time do you have?
Diné chef Walter Whitewater shows off the Three Sisters— beans, corn, and squash — in his Three Sisters Stew from Lois Ellen Frank’s cookbook Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky.
My favorite way to honor Indigenous Peoples Day is with my hominy, beans and green chiles stew. It’s delicious and comprises some of the original crops cultivated by Native Americans.
Steve Sando, the lord of legumes and the face and force of famed heirloom bean company Rancho Gordo shares a recipe for chili sin carne from Rancho Gordo’s new book entitled — big surprise — The Bean Book. (Paid subscribers will find the recipe at the end of the post. Not a paid subscriber yet? Click to subscribe now.)
Wanna spend some quality kitchen time? Make these awesome enchilada beans
from the awesome Michelle Albanes-Davis. Michelle (oh, gosh, can I call her Michelle?) is a genius chef, fellow vegan, sister Substacker (subscribe to her Substack Stir the Pot), and general all-around badass. No wonder I love her.
Want simple and soulful? These soup beans from Kentucky poet laureate Crystal Wilkinson are poetry in a pot. They’re from her cookbook/memoir Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts.
Wanna put an end to the dangerous, distorted rhetoric around mass deportation? Please say yes. Enjoy something wonderful too — Haitian sos pwa, a creamy purée of beans swirled into coconut milk, is absolutely luxe, It’s greater than the sum of its parts.
James Beard Award-winning cookbook author (and my friend) Anna Thomas offers up love by the ladleful with a soup of fasolia gigante (that’s big-ass lima beans) and spinach.
Taste more love with creamy flageolets and zesty dandelion greens. I could play endlessly with beans and greens, and indeed while my original recipe is delightful, I recast it for Florida Climate Week last week. I had a bag of Rancho Gordo flageolets in my pantry, organic dandelion greens in my fridge, and the need in my spirit. (Paid subscribers will ALSO find the new updated recipe at the end of the post. Not a paid subscriber yet? Click to subscribe now.)
Florida did not invite Milton to participate in Florida Climate Week but he came anyway. Miami was fortunate to be well out of Milton’s strike zone — we only experienced tornadoes and tropical storm force gusts — but my heart has been heavy with worry for folks in Sarasota, Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Orlando. Deliberately spreading lies and hurricane disinformation at this time of crisis and suffering is just cruel. So why do it?
Indigenous Peoples Day is not about disinformation and deportation threats. And it’s about more than beans. Honor and preserve Native Americans’ rich culture and foodways, their reverence for nature and faith in nature’s power to heal us. In return, we can help heal nature. Consider signing the People’s Climate Pledge. Happy Indigenous Peoples Day.
I’m painfully aware Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene have messed things up for many Broccoli Rising subscribers. You’re without electricity. Or worse. At the very least, you’re not in a position to cook. Canned beans will get you through. Or as Tom Waits sings in “Lucky Day”,
When you get blue
And you’ve lost all your dreams
There’s nothin’ like a campfire
And a can of beans.
Please check in with me when you can. Let me know how you are and how I can help.