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HEMP SEED FRIED DUMPLINGS

SERVES 4 (MAKES 8; 5 MG THC PER SERVING)

FRIED DUMPLINGS (also known as Johnnycakes) are one of the most common breakfast “withs” you come across in Jamaica—they are the must-have side dish to the custardy fruit called ackee (which looks like scrambled eggs when sautéed). Add saltfish and you have our national dish. In Jamaica where the humidity is high and bread goes bad fast, dumplings not only taste so good but they make sense too as they can be quickly made and fried fresh. Hulled hemp seeds (see here for more information) are a wonder food, a perfect protein that brings the whole spectrum of amino acids to these dumplings; but don’t worry, the hemp seeds you buy in the grocery store are agricultural hemp seeds—they don’t have the THC that gets you high, so no fears about double dosing.

2 cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup cornmeal

¼ cup hulled hemp seeds

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 teaspoons cold CannaButter

¼ cup milk

¼ cup ice water

Vegetable oil, for frying

Good-quality butter, for serving

Flaky sea salt, for serving

Honey, for serving

Hot sauce, for serving

1. Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, hemp seeds, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and CannaButter and use your fingers to work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like crumbly meal with no butter pieces larger than a small pea.
2. Drizzle in the milk and use a fork to stir it into the dry ingredients just until incorporated, then add the water. Continue to stir with a fork until the dough holds together when pressed in the palm of your hand. Knead the dough until it is mostly smooth (it will be rough textured from the cornmeal and hemp seeds), about 3 minutes. Cover the dough with a damp paper towel and set aside for 30 minutes.
3. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each one into a ball. Pour ½ inch of oil into a large skillet and set over medium-high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the dumplings to the skillet, pressing them down slightly to flatten. Fry on both sides, using a spoon to baste the tops with hot oil as they cook (this helps them puff extra tall), until they’re golden brown, about 5 minutes total. Transfer the dumplings to a plate lined with paper towel to cool just a minute or two before serving with butter, flaky salt, honey, and hot sauce.

HEMP FOR MOTHER EARTH

Hemp is a wondrous plant that is also easy on our environment. First, it can grow almost anywhere, in many climates and soil types (America imports hemp largely from Canada and China and I can’t imagine environments more diverse than those). Second, hemp grows even faster than a weed (ever wonder where Herb got its nickname?). It doesn’t need a lot of room or water—actually half as much as cotton requires—meaning farmers can grow lots of it in a small space. It also extracts toxins and pollutants from soil, and absorbs carbon dioxide. What a miracle!

Hemp can be made into paper using fewer chemicals than are needed to make paper from wood, it can be made into textiles and carpeting, concrete-type blocks, mulch, fiberglass, composites that auto manufacturers are already using in place of plastic for car parts, and it can even produce fuel. Not to mention the many, many health benefits you can realize by eating the seeds (a fiber-rich superfood that provides omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids plus a generous assortment of nutrients, including magnesium and a host of vitamins). Hemp seed is also a perfect protein, meaning it contains all the essential amino acids our bodies need. As Herb becomes more accepted medicinally and recreationally, I hope the trend spills over to the agricultural side (right now, it’s illegal for farmers to grow hemp under the provisions of the Controlled Substances Act), so farmers will finally be allowed grow hemp to heal our Mother Earth and support society in a less harmful, more sustainable way.