Nááts'íilid 'Rainbow' Kitchen Offers Indigenous Foods and Cooking Classes Near Denver

"Founded by Indigenous chef and food activist Narissa Ribera, a member of the Diné (Navajo) Nation who grew up primarily in Denver but spent time with family on reservation land in New Mexico and Arizona, this shop grew out of Ribera’s longtime gardening and cottage-food work. Ribera notes, “There are thousands of plants that have been erased from our history and from future generations.” The business offers indigenous plant foods from heirloom varieties and sources ingredients from other Indigenous producers, and Ribera also wild-harvests native plants in Colorado’s San Luis Valley — including piñon, tangy sumac, and mild, sweet yucca flowers, which taste “like young artichoke leaves.” Bestsellers include prickly pear popcorn, hatch chile powders, and a soup mix containing high-protein tepary beans, along with blue corn meal that’s nixtamalized with juniper ash (the main source of calcium in the traditional Diné diet). Products are available online (chil-indigenousfoods.com) and Ribera emphasizes sourcing from Indigenous, organic, non-GMO farms." - Cynthia Barnes