National Soup Month & A Native American Recipe

Published January 16, 2018    By Helen Oliff

January is National Soup Month and a reminder that winter is the perfect time for delicious soups to warm the body and soothe the soul. Many nutritious soups are available from local grocers and specialty groups such as our friends at Soup Box Love. The Healthy Meals Resource System of the USDA is featuring many soups this month, as part of their effort to promote healthy meals.

Did you know there are many delicious Native American soups like green chili stew, dried corn soup, and dry meat soup? Or that soups were part of the ancestral diets of indigenous peoples inhabiting North America?

In the PBS segment on the Native American Food Movement (check your local listings), we are reminded that traditional Native American foods are nutritious and delicious, and that a return to an ancestral, plant-based diet is a way to reclaim health and wellness in Native communities. Traditional recipes using simple ingredients are what Native Americans had access to from the beginning.

Three traditional foods that many Native communities eat are corn, beans, and squash, known as “the three sisters,” and we utilize many traditional recipes in our Train-the-Trainer (T3) nutrition training. Here is one recipe for Three Sisters Stew.

PWNA is pleased to collaborate with Native chefs and food experts, to support gardening and training on healthy cooking and eating in Native communities, and to support the national effort to promote healthy meals during National Soup Month.