Woman cooks meals inspired by Native Americans

Theresa Anderson is a grandmother. She lives in Sunnyland and loves to cook buffalo.

“It's just what I do,” she said. “It's what I enjoy doing.”

Anderson is Nez Perce, and says she's a direct descendant of Chief Joseph, who led the Nez Perce in the late 1800s.

She became more interested in her heritage as she grew older. As an adult, she joined the Native American Fellowship Day Spring United Methodist Church in East Peoria.

She always loved to cook - mostly gourmet meals.

“Now, buffalo, I hadn't cooked it at all until one of my pastors had given me some from the Seven Circles (Heritage Center). So I tried it and now it's one of my favorite meats. I love it.”

Over the last few years, Anderson has been collecting recipes for authentic traditional Native American meals. She said tribes ate very healthily.

“Buffalo is the least fatty of meats there is,” she said.

Anderson, who has heart problems, learned from her doctor that venison and buffalo are very low in cholesterol. “So it's good for me.”

“A (buffalo or venison) stew is simple to make. You use a lot of garlic. It (covers) the gamy taste,” Anderson said.

She said that for most recipes, like chili or hamburgers, the cook only needs to substitute buffalo for beef. For buffalo burgers, Anderson suggested mixing in a little ground beef, just to hold everything together.

Native American food is not all about buffalo and venison, of course.

Anderson's private collection of recipes call for wild carrots, sour cherries, wild potatoes, and countless other native species of vegetation.





Entire article: http://indiancountrynews.net/index.p...051&Itemid=114