One of my favorite places in the Pacific Northwest is the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture located at the University of Washington in Seattle. At the moment there is a special exhibit on display featuring an amazing collection of textiles from around the world. The show is called Weaving Heritage: Textile Masterpieces from the Burke Collection and includes some fabulous examples of woven textiles from Mexico, Hopi, Navajo and the Pacific Northwest. If you are as interested in Native American cultures and Mexico as I am, you will run to see this wonderful exhibit.
Native American medicine wheel
As part of my ethnic American history curriculum, I introduce the students to the art of Native American healing traditions. I love teaching this material, because most of them, at their age, really don’t know anything about the culture and history of our nation’s native tribes.
We discuss the concept of the Native American life-force, called ni by the Lakota and nilch’i by the Navajo, which is viewed as an integral part of the healing process. From this perspective, the patient’s family, community and greater environment must all be taken into account when creating a healing paradigm for the patient. This represents a great contrast for my students, who are used to modern medicine’s view of each body part and person as discrete units that must be viewed individually in order to be treated appropriately.
Some of the students definitely shy away from our discussions of this alternative form of medicine, but many actually get into it. I always feel like it’s certainly worth it to explore the many aspects of Native American culture with the students – you never know how one student will be influenced by material of this sort!
As I’ve certainly written before, I love Mexican cooking. Some people feel that as vegetarians, Mexican food is not an option for them. It really doesn’t have to be, however, and I have a few great tips here to help you with cooking vegetarian food the Mexican way.
Mexican food actually lends itself to staying vegetarian as corn and beans are such staples of the traditional cuisine. Black beans in particularly represent a great source of protein, which is particularly important to those on a non-animal-protein-based diet. Use beans mashed, boiled or sweetened, plain or as the basis of a main dish. You can also use rice, either salty or sweet, white or brown, in many recipes. And of course no meal would be complete without salsa! Get out those tomatoes and prepare yourself a delicious Mexican salsa. Another great idea is to make cheese burritos instead of meat-based ones. Your meal still contains the delicious Mexican tortilla and salsa – simply add cheddar cheese (go for fat-free for the health benefits without the fat) instead of meat.
I had the opportunity recently to go to an African-American film festival here in the Pacific Northwest, and it was a real eye opener. I happen to be a history teacher, and I teach a course on ethnic minorities in American history. So, my interest in ethnic film isn’t coming from left field. While watching some of the films, I realized that this could really be a great way to teach history! Lightbulb!
I love those “aha” moments when curriculum seems to come together and come alive in the classroom. The next day, I heading into my ethnic American history class with a short movie clip to see how it would go over. The students loved it. They enjoyed getting a visual of the African-American culture that we were discussing and they love the medium of film.
It was a great addition and I’m looking forward to finding some other great African-American movie clips to show them in class.
There are many ways to enjoy Mexican food since it can be so versatile. If you are looking to get the best nutritional value from the food however, then you want to make good selections in the food. To that end, your best best is to avoid the high fat, fried so-called “Mexican” dishes at fast food restaurants and instead eat out at authentic Mexican restaurants serving the culture’s traditional food. Better yet – get into the habit of preparing your own Mexican meals. It is not hard to prepare and the taste and health benefits are truly worthwhile.
Use beans as a healthy source of protein; switch white rice to brown rice for your rice-based recipes, and remember that tomatoes and other vegetables are a staple of Mexican food as you prepare your very own salsas and dips! Chilies can be used either dried or fresh and represent a spicy way to enjoy a healthy diet. Remember, you don’t have to do without a dessert: typical of Mexican fare are desserts made with a range of native fruits – coconut, papaya, pineapple, bananas – Yum!
Apart from the fact that if prepared properly it tastes fantastic, there are many nutritional benefits associated with Mexican cooking as well. Firstly, it is based on corn, rice, and beans – lots of protein and fiber – and vegetables, especially tomatoes, and fruit are in abundance in many Mexican meals. In addition, the popularity of spices not only brings great flavor, but also comes with significant health benefits. Mexicans prefer their food hot and spicy and so chilies are also a staple of Mexican cooking. The range of chilies includes jalapeno, serrano, guajillo, pasilla, ancho, poblano, habanero and mulato, among others. If you prefer fish over meat, then you can adopt the cuisine of the Veracruz region of Mexico, where the main dish is fish. Their specialty is the “fish dish a la Vareacruzana,” which is flavored with a special sauce of tomatoes, olives, and chilies. In a word, Mexican cooking is both healthy and delicious – so enjoy.
Growing up in California, I always felt that I was well fed and that I enjoyed great, fresh food. Little did I know how simply divine fresh fish and fresh ingredients in the Pacific Northwest could be!
We recently hosted a dinner party for a number of friends, and we decided to create the entire menu ourselves from scratch. My wife and I both love cooking, and we went to Pikes Place to pick out the most fantastic ingredients. We started with some appetizers using salmon, trout and sturgeon that were smoked and served with crème fraiche and lemons. We also had grilled peppers with dill cream cheese.
For the entrée, we made grilled wild salmon fillets crusted with sun dried tomatoes, basil and olives. We had wild mushrooms on the side and red rice as well.
For dessert, we went with a light sorbet and my wife made a cobbler with fresh berries we had picked earlier in the week. Simply delicious!