Contributed by Shelia DiMeolo
Besides the friendship and beautiful views, one of the other great things about being interns at Four Corners Farm is access to plenty of organ meats! I had a difficult time sourcing quality organ meat in Ohio so having plenty here is a nice change. I am still learning new ways to add it to my family’s diet, but knowing how nutritious and healing organ meats are for our bodies is a great encouragement to experiment in the kitchen. I highly recommend reading books like Nourishing Traditions and Nutrition and Physical Degeneration to learn more about the health benefits of organ meat. One of my tricks for adding it to our meals is chopping chicken liver or hearts very small and adding it with ground sausage into an egg scramble. This also works well with any ground beef dish. Here is a very tasty recipe our family tried last week from The Heal Your Gut Cookbook. It was so good I actually wanted to eat the leftovers!
Mexican Chicken Hearts
1 lb chicken hearts
2 chile peppers (remove seeds for less spice)
4 cloves garlic
1 t cumin
1 t coriander
1/2 t sea salt
1/2 t pepper
1/4 cup filtered water
1/2 cup coconut aminos
2 T animal fat or ghee
2 onions, sliced
2 bell peppers diced
1 lb fresh tomatoes chopped or 28 oz jar diced tomatoes
Slice the hearts in quarters and remove the aortas. Put the hearts into a bowl and add the cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, and 1 chopped garlic clove. Mix and place in the fridge for 30 mins or longer. Chop or process the chile peppers and 3 garlic cloves very fine. Melt cooking fat in large pan over medium-high heat and add the chile and garlic paste. Saute for 30 seconds, then add onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add hearts. Cook the hearts until almost cooked through, 1-2 minutes. Add the water, coconut aminos, bell peppers, and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, then cover and cook for 5 minutes. Serve as is or over rice (we used homemade cauliflower rice because we are following the gaps diet). Also recommend topping with guacamole and fresh cilantro.
Contributed by Shelia DiMeolo