Free recipes featured in Colville tribal calendar

 


Salmon soup with wapato
and cattail shoots
 

Ingredients:

 

  • 12 wapato roots, camas or small new potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 6-8 cattail shoots or asparagus, trimmed of woody exterior and sliced
  • 6 green onions, or 8-10 wild onions
  • 4 cups of water
  • 5 juniper berries
  • 1 pound of salmon steak
 
 
Directions:
1. Place wapato roots, cattails, onions, water and juniper berries in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Decrease heat to medium and simmer for about 15 minutes, until wapato roots are tender.
3. Add salmon and cook 8-10 minutes until just done.
4. Remove salmon with slotted spoon or spatula and continue simmering soup.
5. Remove skin and bones from salmon.
6. To serve, break salmon into bite-size pieces and distribute among soup bowls; ladle soup on top.
 
PULLMAN – Looking for ideas and recipes to bring variety and a local touch into your dining? Check out the 2011 Nutritional Calendar featuring recipes from the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.
 
Partnership
This resource is available thanks to a partnership between Washington State University Extension and representatives from a variety of Colville tribal agencies. 
 
The publication features a variety of recipes used by members of the Colville Reservation, ranging from green chile and chickpea stew to wild berry crisp, which consists of five different types of berries.
 
This year’s calendar project was coordinated by Judith Moses, formerly with WSU Colville Extension, and now the librarian at Coville Tribal Resource Center.
 
Better use of food resources
“Recipes in the calendar include ingredients that are regularly available through the Colville Tribal Food Distribution program, as well as native foods and plants,” Moses said. “The primary purpose of the calendar was to help people in the Colville Reservation to make better use of the food they received through the tribe’s distribution program by providing them with interesting recipes and enticing photos.”
 
The recipes include native food items like deer or elk meat, wapato, cattail shoots, juniper berries, salmon, huckleberries, and corn flour. And, it offers substitutes for when those items are not easily available – like baby potatos for wapatos.
 
Recipes tested at luncheon
Mary Collins, director of the WSU Anthropology Museum, recently attended a WSU Pullman luncheon, in which each participants brought a dish featured in the calendar.
 
“The calendar is important because it helps inform people about traditional and regional foods, and it encourages a healthy diet in a visually appealing way,” said Collins. 
 
In print and online
Once the calendar was printed and locally distributed, said Moses, it “took off and got unbelievably popular. Last year we printed 2,000 calendars and ran out. This year we printed 2,500, and have made it available online through the WSU Extension Ferry County & Colville Reservation website.”
 
The calendar is distributed freely to members of the Colville tribes and to members of WSU Colville-Ferry County Extension. 
 
“We get requests for it all year long. Other tribal reservations have asked to use it as a prototype for their own calendars.”
 
Reading in the Kitchen
The calendar has even sparked related programs, including a class by Moses at the Colville Tribal Resource Center called “Reading in the Kitchen” that teaches people terminology that is peculiar to cooking recipes. The class currently is focusing on Native American cookbooks, Moses said.
 
 
 

Also participating in the calendar project are:
  • WSU Colville Reservation-Ferry County Extension
  • Colville Tribal Food Distribution Program
  • Colville Tribal Resource Centers and Libraries
  • WSU Douglas County Extension
  • Colville Tribal Language Preservation Program
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture
  • Colville Agency Bureau of Indian Affairs
 
 
For more information about the calendar, contact  Dan Fagerlie, WSU Colville Reservation-Ferry County Extension project director, fagerlie@wsu.edu or go to the WSU Colville Extension website.