June Heirloom Bean & Grain Club
Happy June! We’ve bean thinking about you, and The Three Sisters. Corn, squash, and beans are on the radar this summer as we deliver some rare ingredients to your mailbox that work perfectly with this holy trinity of indigenous cuisine.
As we expand on The Three Sisters this month, we remember June 2, 1924. Almost 100 years ago, Congress enacted the Indian Citizenship Act, which granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. Unfortunately, the right to vote was still up to the states. Even today Native Americans are still fighting for their right to vote, and you can learn more about that here. Watch for our LIVE broadcast on YouTube on June 16th with Cherokee chef, Nico Albert from Burning Cedar. She's going to be sharing her new Three Sisters recipe with us and teaching us about indigenous cooking.
We're also including some yummy 100% honey sweetened caramels in your box to enjoy. A farmers market favorite, freshly made with local honey, these extra creamy caramels are sprinkled with pink salts harvested from an ancient ocean in Utah. Everyone who tries Bee Grateful Honey Caramels says they are the best caramels they have ever tasted and because they are honey sweetened they won't stick to our your teeth! The wrappers are also fully compostable!
FAMILY SIZE CONTAINS:
Organic Calypso Beans, Organic Sangre De Toro Beans, Organic White Tepary Beans, Organic Flor de Junio Beans, Sonora Wheat Berries*
REGULAR SIZE CONTAINS:
Organic Calypso Beans, Organic Sangre De Toro Beans, Sonora Wheat Berries*
BEAN ONLY CONTAINS:
Organic Calypso Beans, Organic Sangre De Toro Beans, White Tepary
*Gluten Free Substitute - Garbanzo Beans
ORGANIC CALYPSO BEANS
The calypso bean, also known as the orca bean or the yin and yang bean, showcase beautiful half black, half white markings that deepen with age. The colors will definitely catch your eye but they offer much more than that. The petite bean is round, ovulate and doubles in size when cooking. High in fiber and iron, these heirloom beans have a mild taste, somewhat potato-y.
WHAT TO DO WITH THEM
Drop the beans into a slow cooker, add beer and bacon, and enjoy the perfect balance of flavors with this delicious dish. Enhance the flavor by adding a fried egg or cilantro from your garden. The smooth and creamy texture of calypso beans pair perfect in this recipe. For a completely plant based recipe, omit the bacon and use vegan wheat beer in your slow cooker.
ABOUT THE FARMER
Fifth Crow Farms is an organic family owned farm in Pescadero, California. Grounded in a values-based approach to land stewardship, Fifth Crow Farm is a dynamic and diversified organic farm in Pescadero, CA. Founded in 2008 with a shoestring budget, a supportive local community, and ambitious dreams, they strive to bring eaters the highest quality, best tasting, and most nutritious food possible.
Fifth Crow Farm wants their farm to be more than a business: they strive to make it an engine for positive change in the food system. They are stewarding the land in a way that not only respects but improves habitat for wildlife and builds better soil for future farmers. They also believe in creating a healthy, fulfilling, and fair work environment, and providing their customers with the best tasting, most nutritious, highest quality food possible.
ORGANIC SANGRE DE TORO BEANS
These rare, long, flat beans are named "bulls blood" from their deep red hue. Usually found in kitchens throughout Latin America, the color adds a greater amount of antioxidants when compared to other beans from the area. The skin thins when cooked and almost melts in your mouth. Sangre de Toro beans are dense but without starch, a perfect pantry staple.
WHAT TO DO WITH THEM
Use these in any recipe that calls for red beans. One of my new favorite recipes is our take on red beans and rice. This 100% vegan version of the cajun classic will fool even the most ardent meat eaters! It's been tested and approved by our Baton Rouge taste testers. We're ditching the traditional ham and sausage and replacing it with umami filled kombu. The natural glutamates in the kombu enhances the flavors of the dish like mother nature's MSG and the umami mimics the meat products nobody will ever miss them. All the flavor, none of the carcinogenic meat products. Did you know that the World Health Organization recently categorized bacon and sausage as carcinogens?
FLOR DE JUNIO BEANS
Flor De Junio (Spanish for Flower of June) are a lovely lavender swirled bean that is plump and very creamy in texture. They the most popular bean in the state of Michoacan. They are renoun for their silky texture that makes them a great choice for charro beans. I also think they'd be an excellent and non-traditional choice for Pasta e Fagioli. We love this recipe for Pasta e Fagioli with Escarole from Epicurious. These are also a great choice for classic Frijoles de la Olla which is beautifully described by Janes Fonda.
ABOUT THE MAKER
Primary Beans is a brand-new, sister-founded purveyor of single-origin dried beans from recent harvests on a mission to place the almighty bean at the forefront of meals that are good for people and the planet.Linsey and Renee are fifth-generation Arizonans from a small town on the Mexican border. Like any border town kids, they grew up around the culture and flavors of Northern Mexico. Early on, they developed a deep appreciation for beans and were the kids asking for “no rice, only beans please” at the local restaurant.
Turning their passion into a mission, the sisters created Primary Beans to deepen our connection to the food we eat and the land it comes from. They ethically source fresh, delicious beans from their network of family farms to deliver them to your table.
ORGANIC WHITE TEPARY BEANS
These organic heirloom beans are the original superfood of the Sonoran Desert having sustained Native American people for countless generations. Highly acclaimed for it's nutritional value the stotoah bavi (white tepary bean) is noted for its unique and delicious naturally sweet yet savory flavor and creamy texture. The white tepary bean make delicious hummus, soups, salads, dips and spreads.
Ramona Farms shares with us their traditional foods grown on the ancestral lands of the Akimel O'Odham (Gila River Pima) tribe in Arizona's Sonora Desert. An ingredient in the Slow Food Ark of Taste, the tepary bean is believed to be the world’s most drought tolerant bean, and higher in fiber and protein than most other beans with a low glycemic index and superior taste.
WHAT TO DO WITH THEM
Relax by the pool with this light and delicious Spicy White Tepary Bean Hummus. Packed with flavor, you won't want to share this one. Looking for something easy? Check out this fantastic vegan salad that takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and is gone even faster.
ABOUT RAMONA FARMS
We are honored that Ramona is sharing with us the food traditions of her tribe, the Akimel O'Odham (Gila River Pima) Community. Ramona's father, Francisco ‘Chiigo’ Smith, an O’dham farmer, grew many traditional crops on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona. Her mother was an herbalist and traditional healer. Together they taught Ramona the value of their traditional foods and way of life. She continued the traditions with her own family, farming on this ancestral land with her husband.
In the late 1970’s, some community elders asked Ramona and her husband us to grow the Bafv (tepary bean), which had nearly become extinct due to the lack of water that put many of the local subsistence farmers out of business. They discovered that her father had left a few seeds of the white and brown tepary beans in glass jars in a trunk in the old adobe house that she grew up in. They knew that it was to become their mission to ‘bring the bafv back’ to the community.
The tepary bean is part of the Slow Food Ark of Taste and its roots go back thousands of years in our native foodways. The remains of the tepary have been found in archeological sites in Mexico that are 5,000 years old and it has been grown in what is now California and Arizona for thousands of years. This incredibly hearty bean was a staple food source for Native American tribes who cultivated it to survive in the incredibly arid conditions.
It is through Ramona's tireless efforts that we can now enjoy this delicious part of our American cultural heritage and honor the traditions of the Akimel O'Odham people and their ancestors that have cared for the land for generations.
SONORA WHEAT BERRIES*
White Sonora Wheat is a soft, white winter wheat believed to have been brought to the Sonoran Desert by Padre Lorenzo de Cardenas between 1640 and 1650. The Pima people began cultivating and exporting White Sonora in the 19th century and it became a staple grain credited with saving both Union and Confederate soldiers from starvation during the civil war. Renewed efforts to understand and preserve the rich cultural and regional history surrounding White Sonoran Wheat in recent years inspired a resurgence of the crop. Soft golden Sonora Wheat Berries are the perfect base for a grain bowl, or sprinkled in a salad. Add them to a soup as you would barley or top them with yogurt and fruit for a breakfast grain bowl. Try them in this simple Lemon and Herb Summer Wheat Berry Salad.
ABOUT THE MAKER
Hayden Flour Mills was started by a father-daughter duo, Jeff and Emma Zimmerman. Their vision was to mill some of the world’s forgotten ancient and heritage grains using sustainable methods at every level of the process, from seed to table. Their mill is located in Queen Creek, Arizona on the farm where most of their grains are grown.
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