Three Sisters Soup Recipe

Once a powerful Medicine Woman had three daughters who were very different in personality but they loved each other and lived harmoniously– making each of them stronger.

One day they began bickering over whose plot of land belonged to whom. The fighting became so bitter that they decided to live far apart and yell hurtful insults at each other. When their mother grew tired of refereeing the fighting, she prayed to the Creator to make the sisters harmonious again.

The Creator hearing her prayers, transformed the smallest sister into a bean vine, the middle sister into squash and the eldest into a corn stalk. The Creator told them that the world needed them and they would need to figure out how to use each other’s gifts to survive– and told them that to thrive, they would forever be dependent upon each other. The Sisters discovered that when planted close to each other the beans shaded the squash, the prickly vines of squash plants discourage predators from eating the corn and beans, and the corn provided a tall stalk for the beans and squash to climb. 

And as the sisters hibernated (died off) every year, they were composted back into the soil at the end of the season for a richer home the following year.

This legend of unity teaches us that there is no ‘community’ without ‘unity’. In-fighting only weakens us and leaves us susceptible to attack from all sides.

For us modernly, corn, beans and squash complement each other nutritionally. Corn provides carbohydrates, beans are rich in protein, balancing the absence of necessary amino acids found in corn. Squash is rich in oil from the seeds and vitamins from the flesh.

Wha Wi Ago Need

• 3 cups corn kernels

• 3 cups butter beans, frozen or jar preserved

• 1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes SHORTCUT: buy cut & cubed already, fresh or frozen ALT: pumpkin or sweet potato

• 2 large purple onions (I like the depth of flavour they lend) or other onions that are not sweet - chopped. Feeling fancy? Substitute onion for 6 chopped purple shallots

• 1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper (not green pepper as they are unripe and they have an acrid taste)

• 5 cloves of garlic, chopped

• 2 cups sliced mushrooms - I like meaty shitake for this recipe

• 3 cups water

• 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth (I keep 3 boxes handy in the pantry)

• 1/4 teaspoon FLAKED RIVER SALT

• ⅛ tsp Calabash Ground Cayenne

• ½ tsp Ground Annatto 

• Chopped sage and rosemary

• ½ tsp QUEEN NANNY'S MACHETE JERK SEASONING
  

• Chopped Serrano or Jalapeño Peppers, finely chopped -SHORTCUT: Calabash ¼ tsp Calabash Ground Cayenne

• 1 ½ tsp Arrowroot powder (plus ¼ cup cold water)

• OPTIONAL: 1 cup chopped sausage lightly browned (I use Better Butchers or Field Roast Italian Sausage)

• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Mek Wi Dweet

1. In a large soup pot, heat olive oil on medium heat (do not let it smoke).
2. Add in garlic, onions, mushrooms, celtic salt, corn and sausage to brown them.
3. Add the poultry seasoning, annatto, rosemary and sage.
4. Stir in the beans and squash.
5. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, stir then reduce the heat to low.
6. Simmer until vegetables are almost tender, about 30 minutes.
7. Simmer for an additional 30 minutes and serve.

BONUS PRO TIP: Before serving I dress each bowl with a little drizzle of oil and a sprinkle of river salt on top.