Buettner, who has scrutinized the hotspots inhabited by the world’s longest-living people, focuses on rebuilding the largely forgotten American diet that closely resembles the tissues of the world. diet images found in the Green Zone in this new release. “For the book, I unearthed more than 60 oral histories, scientific reports, and scholarly articles to reconstruct four traditional American diets from the early 20th century,” says Buettner. The scope of the work is ethnically and racially diverse—it accurately captures the diets of Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans, as well as Native Americans.”
The book includes more than 100 plant-based recipes that, according to Buettner, “show off the ingenuity of our natives and immigrants, who brought their age-old cooking techniques from Old World and mixing New World ingredients to create ingenious dishes that can only help you live to 100. He also notes that the data-driven presentation of what Americans actually ate a century ago closely represents what was found in his original Blue Zones study.
For an in-depth look at the book, Buettner is pleased to share some of his favorite five-ingredient (or less) recipes so you can jump right into cooking. And they’re packed with life-enhancing ingredients to nourish your body with the same nutrient-rich foods found in the Green Zone, where people live healthy to 100.
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5 recipes to increase longevity from American Kitchen Blue Zones
Baked Beans Mohawk
Dave Smoke McCluskey’s Recipe
Brings 6-8 servings
Element
2 pounds dried cranberry beans
1 large onion, diced
1/4 cup darkest maple syrup
2 teaspoons tomato powder
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Put the beans in a large pot and rinse with cold water. Soak them overnight. Drought drying.
2. Place the beans in a Dutch oven or oven-safe pot and cover with water. Bring them to a boil over medium to high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 to 1 and a half hours, until the beans are cooked through.
3. Once the beans are soft, add the onion, maple syrup, tomato paste and mustard. Place them in the oven and set the oven to 225°F. Let the beans cook for 8 hours or overnight, checking occasionally and adding water as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
Warriors of the Rainbow Cranberry Mush
Dave Smoke McCluskey’s Recipe
Bring 6 servings
Element
4 cups of water
4 cups almond milk
1 pound fresh cranberries or 1/2 pound dried cranberries
3 cups hominy powder
1 cup maple syrup, or to taste
Optional toppings: pumpkin seeds, pecans, dried cherries or maple sugar
1. In a large pot, mix water, almond milk and cranberries and bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Reduce the heat to medium-low, stir in the crushed ice, and simmer for 45 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally until the crushed ice absorbs the liquid and is very soft.
3. Stir in maple syrup and serve hot with toppings of your choice, if using.
coconut rice
Recipe by Nicole Marquis
Bring 6 servings
Element
2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
3 cups long grain rice
2 cans of unsweetened coconut milk
2 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons cane sugar
1. In a small saucepan over medium to low heat, saute the desiccated coconut until golden brown transparent. Set aside.
2. In the rice cooker, mix the rice, coconut milk, water and sugar. Close the lid and turn on the rice cooker. (Or, cook the rice in a covered pot.)
3. After the rice is cooked, add the toasted coconut.
Cambodia copra
Chad Phuong’s recipe
Bring back 3 servings
Element
2 cups fresh corn kernels
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chives, chopped
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread the corn kernels in an even layer in the baking dish and bake them in the oven for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, boil the coconut milk in a small saucepan.
3. Add sugar and salt and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add chives and simmer for 1 more minute.
5. Pour the coconut milk mixture over the corn kernels and return the dish to the oven for about 5 minutes, until the top is lightly browned.
Plymouth Succotash 1620s
Paula Marcoux’s recipe
Bring 5 servings
Element
2 pounds cooked, shelled corn (or reconstituted dried, frozen hominy, or pozole)
8 ounces dried cranberry beans (or Jacob’s cattle beans or other similar beans), soaked and cooked until tender
Salt
Optional add-ins:
2 radishes, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 squash or other winter squash, seeded and sliced
A few handfuls of chopped cabbage, bok choy or turnip greens
2 leeks or onions, sliced
Several handfuls of chopped lettuce, spinach, chicory, chicory, or arugula (or a combination)
Strawberry leaves or violet leaves
1 cup ground walnuts, chestnuts or hazelnuts
Freshly ground black pepper
Few chives or scallions, finely chopped
marigold petals
fresh mint or parsley
1. In a large soup pot, stir together corn, beans, and salt.
2. Add the beets, carrots, squash, cabbage or other winter vegetables, leeks or onions of your choice and simmer until they are almost tender, about 10 minutes. (Add oil, if needed.)
3. When the above are almost tender, add the greens (lettuce, spinach, chicory, chicory or arugula), strawberry or violet leaves, ground nuts and pepper, and cook more. few more minutes.
4. Add chives or scallions, chrysanthemum petals and mint or parsley and stir well.
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