5

THE GET-TOGETHER

“Quench me when I’m thirsty/
Come on and cool me down,
baby, when I’m hot/
Your recipe—darlin’—is so tasty/
When you show and stir your pot.”

—“STIR IT UP,” BOB MARLEY

SNAPPER ESCOVITCH

SERVES 4 (5 MG THC PER SERVING)

I HAVE BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES of my mother buying big, pristine fresh fish from the fishermen on Bull Bay. My father would roast the fish on a sheet of zinc and then, when the fish was done, he’d walk it to the water and dip the fish in the sea for a salty, briny wash. Here, pan-seared snapper fillets get finished with a bath of sweet, sour, and a little spicy vinegar-based broth. Escovitch comes from the Spanish dish escabeche, but an escabeche is usually marinated for a bit, while the Jamaican version is served right away. Usually the fish is fried first, but I like to pan roast it for a healthier vibe.

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GRILLED JERK CHICKEN WITH TAMARIND BARBECUE SAUCE

SERVES 4 (5 MG THC PER SERVING), WITH LEFTOVER BARBECUE SAUCE

YOU’RE DEFINITELY GOING TO GET INVITED TO A LOT MORE PARTIES if you show up with a platter of Herb-boosted jerk chicken. Is there any dish at all better for an outdoor summer gathering? I think not. The smell of spicy jerk chicken grilling away stokes the appetite like no other (even if you don’t eat meat!). I make sure to buy chicken that was raised in humane and healthy conditions so I can feel good about what I am giving my guests to put into their bodies. You can also grill up some jerk vegetables or serve plain vegetables with the extra barbecue sauce for your vegetarian friends.

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RED STRIPE BATTERED FISH ’N FESTIVAL

SERVES 4 (5 MG THC PER SERVING WITH THE DIPPING SAUCE)

EVEN THE NAME OF THIS RECIPE, unique to Jamaica, sounds like a party: Red Stripe battered fish ’n festival? Bring it on! This is a fun and different kind of meal to share with your guests—the fish is crispy and juicy, just like the best fish and chips, and the festival are like a sweeter, Jamaican take on hush puppies. Hellshire Beach, just outside of Kingston, is famous for having some of the best fried fish on the island. Thatched-roofed huts line the beach and all you need to do is walk past one and smell the fish frying to get that hunger pang deep down in the pit of your belly. The fish is fried up fresh to order and served with festival or bammies, a cassava root (yuca) pancake (here), on the side. I took the inspiration from the beach for this recipe, using Jamaica’s beloved Red Stripe beer to make the batter for coating the fish. Since both the fish and festival are fried at high temperatures (which can dilute the potency of your Herb), the best way to introduce an herb component is through a dipping sauce. Be sure to name someone a designated fryer if you’ll be partaking in the dish (or earlier courses)—you definitely don’t want to start daydreaming while you’re cooking oil is at 350°F! If you’re the cook at the party, wait to partake until the pot of oil is off the fire.

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SPICY JAMAICAN PATTIES

MAKES 6 PATTIES (5 MG THC PER SERVING)

I CAN EAT PATTIES hot, cold, for breakfast, on a hike, as my dinner . . . you name it! The meat patty is like the Big Mac of Jamaica. It’s the perfect way to pass out Herb in a fun, neat, and tidy package or tuck into your bag for the movies (hey, we all do it). You won’t find many burger shops or pizza parlors on the island but patty shops are everywhere. I used to go with Daddy to a place in Half Way Tree in Kingston for patties. He loved them because they were a bit different, stuffed with corn and peas, and they fried their patties instead of baking them. I like mine on the more traditional side, except I stuff mine with a veggie mince (a crumbly ground meat substitute available in the freezer section where you find veggie burgers—or if you can’t find it, just use crumbled veggie burger instead). The sign of a great patty is when you bite into it the filling almost bursts out of the sides, so don’t hesitate to stuff these full up. The patty crust is made with coconut milk and curry powder, which gives it that trademark yellow color, but you can use store-bought pie dough or puff pastry instead if you’re short on time. Use a 3- or 4-inch round cookie cutter to stamp out smaller pieces of dough for more party bites.

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MY VEG LASAGNA

SERVES 8 (5 MG THC PER SERVING)

IF YOU’RE JUST GETTING INTO SPIKING DISHES with Herb, this is a great beginner main dish to try out. Just enhance it, serve a salad on the side, and you’re good to go. It’s also excellent party food since it feeds eight, but that said, you can halve the recipe and make it in a 9-inch baking dish to serve four. Or, double up and stash one in the freezer so a party is always just a defrost away. This lasagna is decadent and cheesy but also loaded with vegetables: scallions, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, roasted peppers, and an entire head of garlic. Garlic is so good for you and packed with antioxidants that, in my opinion, you just can’t eat too much of it (though my husband sometimes disagrees). You can use no-boil lasagna noodles if you like, in which case you will skip the first step.

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ALL-IN MACARONI AND CHEESE

SERVES 6 (5 MG THC PER SERVING)

I’M NOT EVEN GOING TO PRETEND that this macaroni and cheese is healthy—when you commit to making this, you’ve got to go all in! It’s all about a luscious and creamy three-cheese sauce made with cheddar, Gruyère, and Parmigiano-Reggiano that gets finished with a crisp panko-parmesan bread crumb topping. It is rich, and is so, so good on a rainy or snowy day when all you want to do is chill out and watch movies with friends. For a large group of people, double the recipe and use a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. You can also make individual servings by using ramekins, which you then serve on a plate. So cute! At 5 milligrams THC per serving, seconds of this are totally cool (but you may want to think twice on thirds . . .).

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CURRY WITH RITTY ROTI

MAKES 8 ROTI (5 MG THC PER ROTI)

MY MOTHER, RITA, loves her roti filled with chicken foot curry, and I like seitan or tofu. But honestly, this coconut-rich curry is delicious made with just about anything from calabaza squash to cauliflower, eggplant, or cabbage . . . or try it with goat like they make it in the Caribbean. Roti is a flatbread that we stuff with cooked yellow split peas. They are griddle-cooked until both sides are blistered a little and the roti is flaky and tender. Rip it up and dunk it in the curry—oh, is it good! The roti can be made and rolled a day ahead of cooking, then griddled the next day. Just wrap them well in plastic so they don’t dry out.

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JERK TOFU TACO WITH BLACK BEAN–MANGO SALSA

SERVES 4 (5 MG THC PER SERVING), WITH LEFTOVER SALSA

TACOS KICK BUTT at a Super Bowl party or on game night, and because these are meatless just about everyone can enjoy them. The crumbly texture of my scrambled tofu kind of mimics the crumbly quality of ground meat and has tons of flavor from jerk paste and spices—that plus the mango and black bean salsa makes these tacos hit all the right notes. You could put a big bowl of the tofu out (be sure to add a note telling your guests that it is Herb enhanced) alongside a bowl of other fillings—maybe Hemp Guacamole, some corn, shredded grilled chicken (like leftover jerk chicken—so fantastic in a taco), jerk veggies, or fried fish. I like this salsa so much, I could wrap it in a tortilla with an avocado slice and eat it on its own—so sometimes I make a double batch of it and do just that.

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ISLAND BEET BURGERS WITH AVOCADO AND JERK-FRIED ONIONS

MAKES 6 BURGERS (5 MG THC PER BURGER)

VEGGIE BURGERS ARE SO VERSATILE and you can shape them ahead and freeze them, making them the perfect option when it’s late at night and you want to keep the party going without heading into the kitchen. Just bake them ahead of time and wrap them up, refrigerate or freeze them, then re-warm in the oven for a softer burger or in a skillet for a crisper one. These are loaded with vegetables, heat, spices, and so much good-for-you stuff like beans and flaxseeds.

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ITAL STEW WITH SPINNERS

SERVES 6 (5 mg THC per serving)

ITAL STEW IS KIND OF LIKE JAMAICAN CHILI, but instead of cornbread or tortilla chips, we add dumplings, called spinners, to the pot. The word “Ital” comes from the word “vital,” tapping into the idea of the essential life force and goodness that Rastafarians embrace and put out into the world. This very healthy stew is extra hearty thanks to squash, potatoes, and red kidney beans (which we call red peas, see here). To speed things up, yes, you could use canned beans instead of starting with dried, but the texture of fresh cooked beans is really unmatched—you should try it at least once. Spinners are little flour dumplings made by taking a small piece of dough and rubbing it between your palms, “spinning” it if you will, into a long twisty cylinder. They are cooked directly in the stew and soak up all that good flavor. Sometimes I like to use half whole wheat flour or all white whole wheat flour for the extra fiber and nutrition for spinners, but the dumplings will be more stick-to-your-ribs! (You may need to add a little extra water since whole wheat flour will absorb more liquid.)

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SALTFISH ONE-POT

SERVES 6 (5 mg THC per serving)

ONE-POT IS LIKE THE JAMAICAN ANSWER TO A CASSEROLE, with everything cooked together, as the name suggests, in one pot. The most traditional version is made with saltfish, a salt-preserved whitefish, usually cod, hake, or pollack. It’s often sold in the seafood section of the grocery store, sometimes in an open box where you can pick your own, sometimes prepackaged in a sealed bag. Saltfish can have a very intense flavor, and if you’re not a fan, just leave it out for a perfectly tasty vegetarian version. If you can’t find calabaza squash, you can use unpeeled acorn squash instead.

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PEPPERPOT SOUP

SERVES 8 (5 MG THC PER SERVING)

SOUP IS A GREAT WAY TO BRING HERB INTO A MEAL. Since it is usually served as the first course, it will bring the feeling of fineness on in a mellow way so that by the time dessert is served, you’re feeling quite nice. This soup is loaded with all kinds of vegetables from yam to bell peppers and a full pound of spinach that gives the soup broth its creamy green color. Traditionally in Jamaica the soup is made with callaloo (here), but spinach is an absolutely fine substitute (Swiss chard works too). Jamaican yellow yams (here) are quite starchy and need to be peeled and handled with care—I wear gloves—as the juices from the yam can cause your hands to itch like crazy. If you don’t have access to a Caribbean market to buy yellow yams, substitute a Japanese sweet potato instead. These are maroon-skinned white sweet potatoes that are starchy and a little sweet, but not as sweet as the American sweet potatoes that come from the South.

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HOMEMADE CARIBBEAN-STYLE VEGETABLE BROTH

MAKES ABOUT 1½ QUARTS

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ISLAND POTATO SALAD

SERVES 8 (5 MG THC PER SERVING)

A BIG “JAM DOWN” PARTY SPREAD would definitely include jerk chicken and absolutely potato salad. Consider dividing the salad in half and spiking one bowl; just be sure to label which is which!

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TRIPLE-THREAT SPICY CORN BAKE

SERVES 8 (5 MG THC PER SERVING)

THIS SWEET, CREAMY, rich corn dish is a party favorite at my house. It brings a more sophisticated and refined quality to an Herb party—serve it with a kale salad (here) and maybe the Snapper Escovitch or a piece of grilled jerk chicken and you have a fine meal that could be served in any restaurant (but yours is better because it is made with love . . . and Herb!).

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GUNGO RICE ’N PEAS

SERVES 8 (5 MG THC PER SERVING)

IN JAMAICA you’re likely to find and eat certain kinds of food on specific days of the week. Friday means curry and roti, and fried chicken with rice and peas is the dish of the day on Wednesdays. If you are looking for a way to put a little fun in your hump day, look no further than this simple, earthy dish. Gungo peas, as they’re called in Jamaica, are also known as pigeon peas (or gandules in Latin markets). They are small, round, and tender and even people who say they don’t love beans usually like gungo peas. Definitely take the time to make the gungo peas from scratch, starting with the dried beans. If you don’t have the time, substitute canned kidney beans instead (see Variation here), since canned kidney beans—which we call red peas!—hold up better than canned pigeon peas.

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