This New Cookbook Puts the Seasonal Wonder of the Canadian Prairies on Display

By Anikah Shaokat

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The great Canadian Prairie, which includes the Western provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, has a reputation for being as remote as it is immense. But Prairie, a new cookbook from Dan Clapson and Twyla Campbell, is a direct rebuttal to that cold depiction. The authors, who grew up on the Prairie surrounded by native Saskatoon berries and farmland full of lentils, chickpeas, and other varied pulses, have been writing about its bustling food scene “for longer than Twitter has been around,” as they put it in the book. Their work paints a dynamic picture of the land, showcasing all that it has to offer, no matter the season.

Clapson and Campbell first channeled their regional pride through a traveling dinner series called The Prairie Grid which they started in 2017. The goal was to connect the bread bakers, cake makers, produce growers, and local chefs across the region who lived for the same cause but rarely had a chance to come together. Many of the recipes in this cookbook come directly from these culinary champions of the Prairie.

Seasonal cooking isn’t just an aspirational lifestyle, but a way of life that the people of the Prairie have been perfecting for a long time. And this book is a testament to their effort. Local produce shines in its peak form in summer and spring recipes, then is frozen, dried, or pickled to sustain for fall and winter. The simple recipes and engaging storytelling here evoke a deep desire to get cooking, but also to hop on a plane heading north.

Whether your cooking is already seasonally driven or you want to get more intentional about it, this book will inspire you to think local. Although the focus is the Canadian Prairie, you can find the majority of the ingredients at farmers markets across the US. Except, of course, hyper-local ones like Saskatoon berries which, I found through some internet sleuthing, you can buy online in frozen form through Northwest Wild Foods.

The star of the Grilled Swiss Chard and Zucchini With Raspberry Macerated Onions is the sweet and tart ruby-hued onions. I’m looking forward to making this in place of cranberry achar to deliver much-needed zing and acidity to my Thanksgiving table this year.

To me, chocolate chip cookies are perfect and don't need reinvention. Or at least that’s what I thought until I stumbled upon the Black Garlic Chocolate Chip Cookies in Prairie. Black garlic has only a hum of garlicky flavor with an almost molasses-like sweetness which I suspect—and as the authors promise—plays splendidly with bittersweet chocolate chips. My plan is to add these to my December cookie lineup, not tell a soul about the secret ingredient, and patiently wait for some holiday drama.

Speaking of reinventions, I can think of nothing more fitting for a drastic makeover than leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Prairie offers a fun yet familiar way to transform not just the bird, but the whole Thanksgiving meal into one cozy Ultimate Turkey Dinner Leftovers Soup. Mashed potatoes, gravy, leftover veg, and turkey meat and stock go into the base which gets crowned with a topping made with crunchy bits of stuffing.