I saw on Facebook that my neighbor and friend was going to the Howard County Fairgrounds for the weekend Pow Wow. He has a Native American jewelry and arts shop here on Main Street. After getting the weekly groceries, we headed over to the fairgrounds check it out.
First of all, I don’t have much to report on the food. A friend told me the American Indians aren’t really well-known for their cuisine. We did try the flatbread, buffalo stew, and Indian tacos. The Indian taco has the same contents of a Tex-Mex taco (without the spices) served on flatbread instead of a taco shell. At least it was better than getting a hot dog and funnel cake.
The dancers were fun to watch, the story teller was interesting, and there was excellent flute playing by Mark Barefoot, who has been making and playing flutes and drums for over 45 years. My son won a nice, little bow and arrow for shooting a balloon.
Since we’re on the food topic of tacos, I’ll make a vegetarian taco recipe tonight that I adapted from a Slow Food DC email. The tomatoes and zucchini are from my garden, and I’m looking for a new way to use zucchini. Next time I might shred it instead of chopping because it would cook faster and blend into the mixture easier. As things are cooking you can prepare for the next step, but it helps to have the beans and greens prepped ahead of time.
Vegetarian Tacos
2 T avocado oil
2 C corn kernels cut from 4 ears of corn
1 T sea salt
1 C chopped onion (~1/2 large sweet onion)
3 crushed cloves garlic
1 t cumin
3-4 chopped tomatoes
1-3 zucchini, depending on size, diced small
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 t oregano
1 bunch chard or spinach leaves (6 oz bag is fine) – whatever greens you have – washed and chopped
2 T fresh chopped cilantro
1 package corn or sprouted corn tortillas
Salsa, grated cheese, avocado, or your usual taco toppings
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in large pan over high heat. Toast corn 5-6 minutes, stirring and add the salt. Remove the corn to a large bowl and set aside.
Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan, lower the heat to medium and add the onion. Cook 5 minutes and add the garlic and cumin. Stir and cook another few minutes. Add tomatoes and cook 5 minutes. Add zucchini and cook 15 minutes.
Meanwhile add the beans, oregano, greens and cilantro to the corn. Add the corn mixture back into the pan and warm through, stirring for about 5 minutes until the greens wilt. Split among tortillas and add toppings.
