Healthier

As part of my job, I visit restaurants all over Las Cruces and I eat many wonderful — and not so healthy — things. I have a passion for food and I absolutely love to cook. This became a problem about a year ago when some of my clothes weren't fitting anymore. There was actually a time when I sat at my desk in pain from the denim digging into my waist.

That was a wake-up call for me. I didn't want to buy bigger clothes. I didn't want to be sweaty and uncomfortable all the time. And I didn't want to have my already high blood pressure to go any higher to where it might cause a real problem.

So I took a step back and looked at all the things I was eating; spaghetti, buttery breads, hamburgers a few times a week, fast food, lots of meats and lots of eating out. It's kind of a lot.

I already know all about diabetes and heart problems because I've written on those topics quite extensively for Healthy U magazine. I know what causes it and I know what doctors say to prevent it, but I never listened. I did cut down on a lot of sugars because a member of my family recently was diagnosed with diabetes. But I was still eating out a lot and gaining weight.

I changed some things over the year.

First, I stopped eating out a lot. I've eaten at almost every restaurant in Las Cruces and I should've been content with that, but I wasn't. Now I only eat out when I go somewhere to write about it.

Here are a few healthy favorites from local restaurants:

 A vegetarian platter from Santorini. Is has spicy tzatziki and humus, veggies and spanikopitas.

Black bean burger and house salad at Spirit Winds. This burger is unbelievable! Really. Try it.

Fillete al ajillo from Delicias Cafe. It's fish with garlic-chile dipping oil, steamed veggies and a feta cheese-spinach salad. 

 Chicken wonton soup from Boba Cafe. I heard that hot chile raises your metabolism. This spicy bowl should make your metabolism sky rocket. It's really hot, but it's really good.

Then, I started eating egg whites only. I also eat a lot more oatmeal in the mornings and buying more fresh produce. This means I eat a lot of seasonal foods and find recipes that include these foods.

Portion sizes! I know what portion sizes are. We all do. Sometimes they're so ridiculously small it makes me mad to think about it. But I've been abiding by these rules, mostly (...trying to). And to do this I add more variety of foods. For instance: at lunch I bring to work a large salad and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a cup of milk (you cannot have PB&J without milk. I tried. And the next day I brought milk). The salad is a filling lunch by itself so I have the PB&J for a snack as the workday winds down so then I'm not too hungry when dinner time comes around. And then dinner might include a small salad, lots of cooked squash, half a cup of white rice and marinated Cuban pork. It's filling, especially with a tall glass of iced tea.

To help me with portion sizes and calculating calories, I have signed up for Myfitnesspal.com. It has been extremely helpful lately because I now realize just how many calories are in some foods. 400 calories in my PB&J! So sometimes I make a half a sandwich instead. Only 17 calories in a fistful of carrots. I eat those with hummus instead of crackers or pita bread. It's like a game to me.

Exercising has become a daily habit in my life as well. I try to make it to the gym six times a week. Lately I hit a plateau and I keep telling myself that muscle weighs more than fat. I broke away from that, though, and have been losing one pound per week for the last three weeks.

These habits and changes were implemented into my life slowly. It is a lifestyle change. Before, I hated to get on the scale and I never did. Now I weigh in every week. I didn't pay attention to calories and now I do. I always filled myself and got full when I cooked something good. Now I limit myself, savor it and save some for lunch. I never paid attention to advice from others and now I eat more blueberries because my sister said they're good for you and I don't eat after 8 p.m. because my boyfriend said that's when your metabolism slows down significantly.

I've lost more than 30 pounds since last year and my blood pressure is amazing. It's a slow process, but just think: next year, if I keep this up, I'll lose another 30 pounds. That's 60 pounds! That sounds like a good deal to me. I'm in no hurry to get to the beach (I hate beaches anyways. They smell like dead things and sea creatures release sperm and eggs in it. Ew!). I decided to do it naturally and slowly because fake, powdered shakes sounds disgusting and skipping meals is ridiculous.

Asian food

I grew up on the Navajo Nation reservation and in a small town that has a population of about 3,000. There are no restaurants and the food in the city where we did most of our shopping and eating out was not really so good (I say this because food everywhere else is just so much better). My idea of Asian food was the Chinese buffet; fried rice, fried noodles, breaded chicken and sweet sauces galore.

When I moved away, my world changed. When I came to Las Cruces four years ago my idea of food changed too, especially after I started writing about food for the Sun-News. With all the different people suddenly around me, there came different foods; and a whole other world of Asian food.

Exploring all parts of Asia is great. It's not just greasy noodles or fried pork, it's peanuts, squid, raw fish and mind-blowing soup.

Here's a quick tour of Asia right here in Las Cruces:
Japan -- Sushi! I remember the first time I had sushi. It was at a Chinese buffet and I think something was wrong with it (I'm looking at you, Farmington). It was extremely fishy and gross. I spit it out and couldn't see how people could eat that crap. I decided to give it another chance, this time at the Empire Buffet. I heard a lot of good things about it and I saw how popular it was. I started with the California roll and it was fine. It was great! Over time, I got bolder and tried nigiri and temaki sushi with all kinds of large pieces of raw fish at Tokyo Sushi and Katana. I think I want sushi for lunch...

 The Las Cruces roll at Katana has a whole chile relleno in it!

Korea -- Kim-Chi House is about a year old and, boy, I'm I glad they moved in. It's where I discovered kimchi, a fermented vegetable side dish that I could easily make into my main dish. Kimchi, after all, is one of the worlds best foods. I don't know why I didn't like it when I first tried it. But I came back and tried it again and now it's one of my favorite things. The meats here are great too. They're grilled and marinated in a special, tangy ginger sauce and it usually comes with kimchi, rice and wontons. Even the Ramen noodle soup is one of the best dishes I've had in a while. It's spicy and has vegetables and a mix of other spices that takes a $.15 package of noodles to another level.  Kim-Chi House is one of my favorite restaurants in Las Cruces.

Spicy Ramen at Kim-Chi is awesome! especially with kimchi. 

Thailand -- Thai Delights serves up a great pad Thai noodle dish. The mix of peanuts and special spices is wonderful; so much better than buffet noodles. There used to be a restaurant called Bann Thai -- it's now out of business. I tried it once and wanted to visit again, but it quickly closed. I tried the Pannang Curry there and it blew my mind. It had coconut milk, lemongrass, chile and vegetables. It was one of the best things I ate. And curry remains one of my favorite dishes.

Pad Thai at Thai Delights is great! We ordered it for the office once. 

Vietnam -- Pho Saigon and A Dong restaurants are right on par with each other and you're not going to hear anything different from me. I think Las Cruces needed another Vietnamese restaurant to make more bowls of pho. I remember my first time at Pho Saigon: I tried the egg rolls and was expecting a fried one. They brought me a weird looking spring roll and I was confused. But I gave it a try and I'm hooked. I don't go to a Vietnamese restaurant without starting with spring rolls. 

Spring rolls at A Dong are made with mint.

Asian food is the most complex world cuisine. Ingredients are mixed and cooked in a way that's totally unrecognizable. And that's a good thing. Unlike the buffet, it's so fresh and there's so much variety. I never knew peanuts could be used that way. I never knew fish sauce was that good. I never knew how hot wasabi was. Ginger? I hated it, now I love it. Bean paste, sesame seeds, mint, cilantro, eggs and onions. Even what they describe as a "poor man's dish" is a simple yet an unbelievably tasty meal. I know I'm just commenting on the tip of the ice burg here, but that's the great thing about it: there's still a lot more to explore!

(Gosh, the food in that part of New Mexico, where I grew up, was bad)

So I hardly ever visit the Chinese buffet any more. The last time I went there, it was OK. Now I crave specifics. "I want Korean food today." "I feel like some soup, I want pho."

Photos by Andi Murphy
 

North vs. South: The best Mexican food in New Mexico

Many will agree with me when I say that there is a clear difference between northern New Mexico Mexican food and southern New Mexico Mexican food. And then they'll agree when I say southern New Mexico food is the best.

Growing up in northern New Mexico, I hated Mexican food. I didn't like either of the green or red sauces, I didn't like chile and I always ordered a hamburger when my family and I went to a Mexican restaurant. Nothing was very special for me. (Actually nothing in the Gallup and Farmington area -- where I'm from -- is special to me.) I hated all this stuff because it was always so hot too. Eating Mexican food was painful; it hurt. And I didn't like it.

I seems, to me, that in the northern part of the state, people judge the quality of the dish by how hot the chile is. If it's making your throat bleed and your eyes and nose water, than it's good. That's how it was in my hometown (Crownpoint, N.M.). It was like a tough contest to brag to everyone how hot things are. I always got "it's not even hot" when in fact, it was smouldering hot.

When I moved to Las Cruces as a college student at New Mexico State University in 2008, I saw the light. First, I resisted and never went to Mexican restaurants. Then I tried one place, and then another, and another, and another. I tasted the difference and was satisfied.

The red and green sauces were a lot more flavorful and didn't have such a strong focus on heat. (I'm still a green chile girl. I'm not particular to the roasted red chile sauce yet). The salsas were more flavorful too. It wasn't just tomatoes and fire-hot chile, I could taste the garlic, cilantro and limes for the first time. (Cilantro was another thing I disliked for a long time until I came here). I tasted Muenster cheese for the first time. In northern New Mexico they use cheddar/yellow cheese, which, really, does not go well with everything and is a lot greasier. A whole world of Mexican food items were introduced to me when I moved to the Borderland. Up north, the menu is pretty plain compared to the variety served down here.

And no wonder why. Las Cruces is closer to the border. Restaurant owners come from Mexico and make it their living to cook all this food. This is famous Hatch Green Chile land, this is where we host an annual SalsaFest and The Whole Enchilada Festival. There is a Mexican restaurant on every street corner. Las Cruceans take it seriously here.

I'm addicted to the stuff now. I eat Mexican food every week, sometimes more. My favorite things are street tacos and any fish dish on the menu. I'm also crazy for chips and salsa, even when the chile is hot, it's all very satisfying. (I guess, over these few years, I've built up my chile-heat tolerance too.)

When I'm back home in northern New Mexico I don't bother going to Mexican restaurants except for Delicia's in Albuquerque (they have a restaurant in El Paso and two in Las Cruces). I tried, but once you eat here, nothing else tastes the same. I notice the difference and I prefer the south.

If I ever move away I'm going to miss the food. I'll miss enchiladas from Delicia's and Andele, homemade refried beans at Ranchway, huevos rancheros at El Patron, fish at La Guadalupana, green chile cheeseburgers from El Sombrero and soup from Chachi's. And the chips and salsa from anywhere in town is the best.

I have to give Chachi's another try because I've only had the albondigas there. I also have to try El Jacalito again for the tacos al pastor. Oh, I'm hungry.... for Mexican food!

On the mend

The top two wisdom teeth came out no problem. A third, bottom, one required more expertise and a whole month to heal. The last and most recent one was brutal. The dentist cut, drilled, pulled and stitched a week ago and I'm still bruised and a little swollen. On the first day I didn't eat anything. After that, I have been on a liquid, geriatric diet that bans spicy and crunchy things.

My care givers gave me canned soup, pudding and Jell-O cups, a trifecta of store-bought things I really don't like. I slurped, sipped and swallowed these packaged meals and snacks for a few days and I was grateful for it because it soothed the harsh hunger that ensued my painful ordeal.

I'm still healing. I'm glad this is the last wisdom tooth of mine that has to be dealt with. Just as a precaution — and because I'm still sore and my jaw is still really stiff, I'm still on this liquid diet, but it doesn't come from a can anymore.

Remember my earlier blog about me hating soup? Boy, am I glad I'm over that stage! In this past week I have tried to make the best of my situation and explore some new menu items and make some new soups.

I made egg drop soup for the first time. It was really easy and very tasty. This is a good soup to have if you're mouth is on the mend. Recipe here. I added a little soy sauce to the recipe and used real chicken broth that was left over from some boiled chicken we had the day before.

Our family butchered a sheep for the first time last week before my ordeal. We had mutton steaks, ribs and fried intestines and with some left over meat my mom made mutton stew. I added pieces of frybread to the juice to make it soggy and soft. My mom also made blue corn mush, which is a fine ground blue corn mix, like cream of wheat, that I like to eat with sugar. Others like to eat it with salt.

I went to Chachi's for the first time in Las Cruces and I ordered albondigas, a Mexican soup with meatballs. It was great. Simple vegetable broth with large chunks of carrots, squash and potato with corn. The meatballs were the diamonds in this dish. They had a spice in it that made it very tasty. The limes and cilantro added a perfect accent, a touch of Mexican flavor to remind you that albondigas is a Mexican dish. Ah, anything served with limes and cilantro gets a gold star in my book.

I made aush, an Afghan soup the other day. It's quite simple to make, actually. It's ground beef spiced with coriander, paprika and tomato paste. It's served over noodles in a chicken broth with beans and I added kale for the vitamins. To finish this dish, you add yogurt and lemon. Dried mint is suggested, but I didn't really like that in there. I followed this recipe.

Just because my mouth is healing, doesn't mean there shouldn't be any flavors and variety to my meals. I got tired of canned, watery chicken noodle soup very quick. I need something from China, the Navajo reservation, Mexico and Afghanistan to satisfy me; and I deserve my satisfaction because I went through that pain and that hideous bout of swelling.

 

Next, I think I'll try to perfect a soup I made a few weeks ago. It had chicken, lentils, kale and noodles. It's spiced with turmeric, onions, bay leaves and some other stuff. It was really good and quick to put together (I also made up a turmeric baked chicken recipe that was genius! I need to perfect that one too). I also want to order the new spicy Ramen at Kim-Chi House. I had it a few weeks ago and it was the best twist on Ramen noodles I have ever had. I want to try the fish soup from La Guadalupana, the new Mexican joint in town and find a good clam chowder somewhere. Any suggestions?

And a bonus: I lost five pounds in one week by eating soup and laying around the house watching movies. If I keep it up I'll shed 20 pounds this month, which I need to do. So I will not complain about being hungry all the time. Soup is very healthy and can be really low fat. I find myself making healthier choices since this all happened. I'm eating things that I know will be good for me and good to help me heal. At Chachi's I was going to order an enchilada plate because enchiladas are soft, but I ordered albondigas instead because it was the special and I had never had it before. I can't wait to slurp down dinner. It's leftover aush tonight!

Being a vegetarian was a success!

So US VegWeek 2013 was from April 22 to 28. I took the pledge and I vowed to be a vegetarian for a whole week. 

It was a tasty experience.

On the first day I made spaghetti with no ground beef, asparagus and fresh ciabatta bread. The days after that included veggie sandwiches, cheese enchiladas, cheese pizza, vegetarian qorma, vegetarian Navajo tacos, salads and lots of oatmeal. I did have eggs, cheese and milk.

I had a good plan, which is where most of the success of being a vegetarian is. I would make sure to go shopping and have everything I needed for dinner and lunch. Sometimes this was hard because I think I made more trips to the grocery store for some of this stuff than usual. I had to change my cooking pattern and include a lot of different kinds of vegetables in one plate when usually I have a meat and one or two vegetables on the side. It was a challenge, but it was delicious. I think that's why it wasn't such a huge inconvenience for me. I liked what I was eating every day.

My sister, on the other hand, was miserable for a while — she actually had dreams about steak. She would eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches everyday for lunch, or raid the kitchen for odd ends of melons, cheese, crackers, fist fulls of peanuts and cereal. She would be hungry all the time especially after work when I was cooking. "I think I'm a lot hungrier when I don't have meat," she said.

She didn't plan her meals and she turned into a scavenger during the times I didn't pack leftovers.

We each had to add a day to the week because meat sneaked into one of our meals. So April 29 was the last day being a vegetarian. On April 29 we were at a barbecue place looking to order our favorite steak at Ranchway. Sure enough they ran out of steak, because it's so popular. My sister almost cried and we were both kind of dramatic. I wasn't as devastated as she was, but she got her chunk of beef ribs and I got my cheese enchiladas (which was vegetarian, haha). That was funny. We'll go there again on Saturday.

During this week I think I felt healthier. I certainly didn't get any stomachaches and I didn't feel full for long periods of time. I think I had more energy too. I realized how much meat is involved in everything and how much we take it for granted. We don't give a second thought to the fact that meat comes from living things that had to die. It's like meat has become something other than the flesh of an animal (because that's just gross), it turned into nuggets, sausages and cartoon characters.

I think I will make a personal pledge to cut down on the meat I eat and make sure to stick with Vegetarian Mondays and Wednesdays. Mmm, I have some left over garlic-lemon mayonnaise. I'll make more California grilled veggie sandwiches!

US VegWeek April 22 - 28

I'm taking the pledge to be a vegetarian for US VegWeek! You should join me! It's only one week out of the year and it's going to be tasty.

Like many who will take the pledge, I'm not a vegetarian. But I'm not a meat lover either, so it's going to be easy for me. I also usually try to have at least one to two vegetarian days a week. And on top of that, sometimes breakfast and lunch are naturally vegetarian.

I know there are many types of vegetarians and they each have their own labels. I'm not going to get into that. From April 22 to 28, I'm going to stay away from obvious chunks of meat. No burgers, no chicken, no pork (I don't usually eat pork anyways) and no steaks. No deli meats and no peperoni. I'll still have some milk, a little cheese and a few eggs but other than that, no meat.

I have found a few great recipes and I have a few good ideas:

• I can get a plain cheese pizza from Papa Johns and pair it with a salad. 
• I'll make a vegetarian qorma (Middle Eastern) with potatoes and peppers. Here's a recipe.
• I recently had an Indian taco at the annual American Indian Week finale. I can make a vegetarian Navajo taco without adding the beef to the beans.
• I can make falafels, or eat at International Delights or Santorini's. They're vegetarian and they're delicious!
• I can try to make vegetarian Bibimbap, a Korean dish with kimchi. Here's a recipe.  I could also go to Kim-Chi House and ask for something vegetarian. Smaller, down-to-earth restaurants would do that for you, especially if you're a regular customer.
• A grilled California veggie sandwich with homemade ciabatta bread. Here's a recipe. And here's a video/recipe for easy, delicious, amazing ciabatta bread. I tried it and it was brilliant. 

• I can have cheese enchiladas with rice and beans from my favorite Mexican joint. I can also make these at home. Ooooh, I can have left over beans from the Navajo tacos to eat with cheese enchiladas! Don't you love it when it works out like that?
• Vegetarian spaghetti or Alfredo with broccoli.

See? That's more than seven options for dinner (with leftovers for lunch). It doesn't seem like a challenge anymore because when you plan, you don't end up eating plain rice and carrots.

(And to keep getting my dose of protein I'll be adding lentils, quinoa, beans, nuts and mushrooms to these recipes or at least have them on the side. But like I said, I'll still have cheese, milk and eggs. Maybe I'll make vegetarian week a monthly thing, or an every-two-months thing...)

Here's something I featured in Pulses' Delightful Dish, our weekly entertainment magazine:

See how delicious that looks. And it's vegetarian.

Earth Day, April 22, marks the beginning of US VegWeek and I, an omnivore, am taking the pledge. And I say Italian food is the easiest to eat without meat because it's so flavorful and savory, you don't miss the meat. Lorenzo's has many vegetarian options. First, many of their pastas are meatless and it's always an option to add meat for a few extra bucks. 

Second, they have a line of delicious sandwiches that includes three vegetarian options, including baked eggplant, tomato-basil and "vegetarian."

For their lunch special ($9), you can pick two items out of select half sandwiches, side salads, side pastas and soups. I chose the baked eggplant and spaghetti con sugo (no-meat sauce).

It came pretty quick, just after I finished the complimentary appetizer of house Sicilian bread, which was great. They use Sicilian bread for their sandwiches, too, and it was the bed for a large slice of eggplant covered with a little tomato sauce and lots of melted mozzarella cheese. It was a little messy, but it had great flavors — a roasted vegetable background with savory bread and a slightly sweet sauce. The small bowl of pasta was fresh with a bright, savory tomato sauce and perfectly cooked spaghetti. 

All-in-all, it was a filling and satisfying lunch. My next Delightful Dish will be vegetarian too. Any suggestions?

Lorenzo's, 1752 E. University Ave., is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday and Monday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday  and Saturday. Info: 575-525-3170. Learn more about US VegWeek and take the pledge at usvegweek.com.

The Middle East!

I know it’s kind of impossible to find Middle Eastern food in Las Cruces. Our Mexican restaurants are a dime a dozen, but there seems to be very little room for anything else — or at least everything else comes and goes rather quickly. And if anything is labeled as being Middle Eastern, it usually includes a falafel and a gyro, which is not even scratching the surface of what Middle Eastern food is.

More than two years ago I moved in with my boyfriend — who is Afghan — and my idea of food and flavor was blown to bits. That’s when I became a “foodie” and a lover of good food from all over the world.

I had no idea what that side of the world was about, until I had a feast at his house. Korma, samosas, chutney, bolani, aush, na’an, kabobs, qabili palao, yogurt, mint, lemon juice (see a description of these foods at the end). My goodness, it was the best I ever had.

Before that, he always “bragged” about how good home cooking was and how much time was spent on making one dish, particularly palao. “We are the scientists of rice,” he says. After that first meal and tasting what he had to make for dinner, I was hooked.

Over some time, the spice rack at home grew to include jars of coriander, curry, turmeric, dill, cumin and paprika. I buy large jars of minced garlic, we have pounds of basmati rice, mung beans, lentils, lots of chicken breasts, plain yogurt is always in stock and there’s no shortage of onions. On any night I can make chicken korma (which is my absolute favorite) or my special, signature, Frankenstein-version of aush, a hearty bean soup with noodles and ground beef (sometimes he doesn’t tell me what I’m doing wrong). See recipe below!!!!

Samosas with a quick yogurt-dill dipping sauce.

Chicken korma and bolani.

Chicken and pea korma over basmati rice with yogurt.

I’m just scratching the surface of Afghan cuisine and I will not say I know everything about it. Clearly, there is a difference between the cooking styles of Afghanistan and bordering countries. I once got a complicated lecture on how things could easily turn into a Pakistani dish — and I still don’t understand it.

I’m so happy I met my boyfriend. He comes from a county I never thought about and I certainly didn’t know what kind of food they ate. I would have never tasted these wonderful flavors if it weren’t for him and his family. But now I’m hooked. It’s my soul food.

As always my motto is to go out there and try something from another country. If you just give it a chance, you could fall in love with it. Shall I tell you about my experiences with Ethiopian food next time?

Korma — A mix of spices, meat and beans like a chunky gravy on top of rice. It comes in a variety of styles and I like chicken, mung beans and peas.

Samosas and chutney — A mix of mashed potato, leaks and spices inside a few layers of dough. It’s fried and served to dip in chutney, a find blend of walnut, lemon, cilantro, vinegar and yogurt.

Bolani — Similar to a samosa, but bigger and thinner. It’s lightly fried. We use large egg roll wraps for this one.

Aush — A soup made with ground beef and noodles, made separately and served together. It’s topped with yogurt and lemon juice.

Na’an — A kind of Afghan bread.

Kabobs — Spiced meat — lamb or beef.

Qabili palao (national dish of Afghanistan) — The ultimate rice dish. It’s baked with meat (lamb or chicken), spices, carrots, raisins and cashews.

Yogurt, mint, lemon juice — The mustard and ketchup-salt and pepper of the Middle East.

Home cooking: foods from my reservation

Illustration by my friend, Ricardo Cate', Santo Domingo Pueblo artist. ricardocate.com

As a person who loves to eat and is not afraid to try new things, I sometimes look back at the food that comes from my home, the Navajo Nation reservation. It’s very simple and rugged stuff that you need to build a tolerance for — some of it at least. Some of it is just plain tasty. 

Lets go back for a bit:

Most Native Americans were nomadic. They moved around with the seasons and herds. Sometimes they grew vegetables such as corn, squash, beans, potatoes, ect. That’s true with the Navajo, we pretty much ate off the land.

Each tribe hunted the animals that were native to their area. Deer in the forested areas, buffalo, rabbits, fish, whales, dogs – yes dogs, turkeys, chickens, ect. They used the local vegetables and fruits that grew in the area too.

Then came the immigrants and forced assimilation. Every tribe was forced to live in one place. I imagine a lot of starvation happened. They didn’t know how to farm or process foods. They also didn’t know how to use the strange, new foods that were rationed to them by the government. Imagine if you never saw flour or coffee beans before. Would you know what to do with it? I also imagine there was a lot of sickness too.

Natives were also heavily influenced by these immigrants and their neighbors. They learned how to cook things, use new cooking tools and put their own twist on dishes. Take the Navajo for instance. We were heavily influenced by our Mexican/Spanish neighbors. We have Navajo tacos, pesolé, chile stews and a lot of our Navajo words are actually Spanish words too. Geeso is how we say “cheese,” queso is how it’s said in Spanish; sounds the same. Mandagi’a is Navajo for “butter”; and mantaquella in Spanish. Oh, and tortillas, every Navajo woman must know how to make fry bread and tortillas. We also consider tamales to be a delicacy, just like the Mexicans do, and they only come out on special occasions.

Fry bread

I know what the first thing you think about when you think about Native Americans and food. Fry bread. Actually, I don’t know how it was born or how each tribe came to have it. But each tribe has a different technique, texture and size to their fry bread. Each person who knows how to make fry bread takes great pride in their recipe. Navajos go all out with the plate-sized, thin fry bread with crispy bubbles. Up north, they make it thick and small. Some like it sweet with sugar stuff on it like a waffle. Others, like me, never put sugar on it and prefer it plain with salt or with some stew.

 A hearty mutton stew with green chile and a frybread.

A roast mutton sandwich from a food truck in Crownpoint, N.M., my hometown.

The sheep

They were introduced to us by the Spanish around the 17^th century. They became a very important animal; the life and way of the people. Families kept hundreds of them and used their wool for rugs and ate their meat.

To butcher a sheep takes practice and ceremony. Prayers and ‘thank you’s’ are said for the sheep. It’s bled out from the neck and skinned. I’ve only seen this once and didn’t stay for the whole thing. But the body is broken down and prepared for the grill – or the freezer. 

A butchering with the guys and gals of Nations, a student group, in Las Cruces —  yes, they butchered in the city.

The innards are not thrown out, they’re cooked too. The large intestines, liver, kidneys, stomach and other bits can be chopped and fried together. Everything in that mix is very grassy, gamey and greasy – good with a hot tortilla. The liver, like all livers, sort of come apart in the mouth like soft sand. The stomach turns rubbery and the intestines are the grassy rubbery ones. My sister loves this mix and says the kidneys are very good, especially with a piece of green chile and a tortilla.

The blood is used to make a blood sausage. It’s poured in the stomach with some potatoes, blue corn meal and chile and boiled. I’ve never had this, but I’m guessing it tastes like liver, which I don’t like. And some of the fat, or fat lining is set out to dry and eaten with bread or by itself.

The small intestines are used for achii’. They’re cleaned and wrapped around a sliver of fat and grilled. I’ve had a few of these. They’re greasy and the intestines become a little rubbery or crispy. It’s very “muttony” and delicious.

The head is saved for the open fire -- above or under. I’ve never seen this but my sister has: The jaw was separated, that gave me the chills because I’ve never seen it before. I tried the tongue, it was really tender but it was really chewy at the same time. The nose was taken off. Then the meat on the cheeks were taken off and shared with everybody who helped butcher. The cheek meat was really the best part. It was soft, really juicy, tender and tasty. We ate all of this with our hands. The next part that was cut out was the eyes. The guy who did the butchering ate the first eye. In the back of my mind I thought it was going to be gross, but I said “yes” (to their offer). I didn’t eat the whole eye, it was cut in half. It was slimy and very fatty and gooey. I don’t really remember what it tasted like, it was like a big glob of “jelly-meat.”

 This sheep head was cooked underground.

You know when you’re eating mutton, because mutton is really strong and distinct. It also leaves a strong sheep and meaty smell when you have it in the house. And the grease! The grease that gets everywhere is the reason why I don’t like it too much. If you don’t eat it fast enough, the grease will harden in the stew, in your nails and on the plate. 

There are a lot of other traditional Navajo foods such as; blue corn mush, ground blue corn cooked in hot water and salted or served with sugar; Navajo tea, which, to me, tastes like you took a fall in the weeds and you got some of it in your mouth and; Navajo cake, a mix of ground corn and other sweet things baked underground and comes out dense and kind of tough – for a cake.

See? There are no special techniques, marinades, spices, lemon zest or sauces. It’s all very rugged; meat, bread, salt and a whole green chile/jalapeno on the side. Sometimes it comes with a side of roast corn, cooked squash, but that’s pretty much it.

In a more modern take, Navajos use all the same foods everyone else does. During events, and everyday life, there are burritos, cotton candy, fruit salads, noodle salads, burgers, Navajo burgers (burger in a fry bread). 

There are trucks and trailers across the reservation that serve these delicious foods. I should also mention that we have very, very few restaurants — very few locally owned businesses for that matter. It's all very political and frustrating, but, literally, there are next to no businesses in my town, just a hand full of stores that belong to non-Natives who live states away from our land.

We have also gotten better “rations” from the government. In recent years, there has been a shift from canned fruits, vegetables and meat to fresh and frozen ones through the Navajo Nation Food Distribution, which is kind of like a food stamps program.

Our family is not traditional. I didn’t grow up eating mutton and caring for sheep – most of us didn’t. We considered it a treat when we could afford it, or when our friendly neighbors gave us a leg or rack of ribs for Christmas. We ate spaghetti (mom’s spaghetti is soul food), chicken fried steak, enchiladas, salads, fish and Chinese food.

I learned to cook from my mom. Although she didn’t teach me how to make fry bread and tortillas, I know my way around the kitchen very well because of her. I can make many different things from chicken Brunswick stew and garlic-lemon salmon to Indian samosas and Afghan korma (lately I’ve been obsessed with the Middle East and India).

I’m glad I have tasted most of the traditional foods from my home. I know their value and importance to our people. I appreciate the thankfulness and waste less culture we have. These dishes and methods are exotic – even to me – and unique. I’m lucky to have it right at home. And I’m craving for some fried intestines right now…