1 teaspoon cannabis-infused olive oil
2 cherry tomatoes, halved, optional
1 lime, halved
salt and black pepper, to taste
WHAT TO DO
1. Cut the avocado in half and scoop the flesh onto the slices of toasted bread. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste.
2. Drizzle cannabis-infused olive oil on each slice. Add cherry tomatoes, if desired. Squeeze a little lime on top of that for an added antioxidant boost.
Some people like to get fancy with the avocado design. I don’t, because this toast goes into my mouth basically as soon as I’m done spearing the avocado on the bread. Feel free to make it cute by slicing and dicing a design onto your toast. I won’t stop you.
Chapter Six
Sauces, Spreads, and Dressings
Canna-oil Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
This is everything. I mean, it’s Nutella with weed! Eat a spoonful to curb your stoned sweet tooth. Spread it on toast, add it to a smoothie, or use it as a frosting on cake, brownies. Melt it on strawberries, blackberries, bananas—any fruit of choice. This is super easy to make, which means you get to put it in your mouth that much sooner.
Time: 2 minutes Potency per tablespoon: 1 mg Yield: 24 tablespoons (1½ cups)
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
1 (375-gram) jar of Nutella or another store-bought chocolate hazelnut spread
2 tablespoons cannabutter or cannabis-infused coconut oil
WHAT TO DO
Add the cannabis-infused coconut oil or weed butter to Nutella. Mix well by hand. Serve and enjoy.
Philly Jalapeño Crema
I have a friend name Philip, but his nickname is Philly. Philly always makes the most delicious dishes topped with this vegan crema sauce. Two years ago, he moved to Tulum with his partner and one night, after many mescals, he finally gave me the recipe. Use as a dip for chips, fries, or as a spread for burgers and sandwiches. Keep in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Time: 20 minutes Potency per recipe: 14.5 mg Yield: 2 cups
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
6 jalapeños
½ bunch of cilantro
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cannabis-infused olive oil
1 tablespoon cumin
pinch of cayenne
3 to 5 cloves garlic, minced
salt and black pepper, to taste
WHAT TO DO
1. Add the jalapeños to a small saucepan. Fill with just enough water to cover. Bring the water to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes. Drain.
2. In a blender, add the boiled jalapeños, cilantro, both oils, cumin, cayenne, garlic, salt, and pepper, and blend until it reaches a thick but creamy consistency. Add more water if necessary.
Elevated Tomato Sauce
Tomato sauce should be simple—I mean, it’s just tomatoes. Of course, in this recipe, I add a few extra ingredients, like garlic, pepper flakes, and cannabutter. The good thing about this sauce is that you’re welcome to use as little or as many of the extras I added. The legs of this sauce are the tomatoes (canned tomatoes are fine), salt, and cannabutter. The rest is up to you! Serve as a pizza sauce, a dip for breadsticks, a simple pasta sauce, or base for tomato soup.
Time: 1 hour Potency per recipe: 14.5 mg Yield: 3 cups
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon cannabutter
2 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon sugar
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon crushed black pepper
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
WHAT DO TO
1. Add all ingredients to a large saucepan and bring to a simmer on low heat. Be sure to not let the butter burn too fast.
2. Let simmer, covered, for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring and smashing tomatoes and garlic every 15 minutes. I prefer to keep mine chunky and rustic. If you fancy a pureed consistency, once cooled, blend the sauce with a blender or a food processor.
Nutty Vegan Chipotle Aioli
I put this on everything. I use it as a dip for sweet potato fries or strips of fried chicken, and as a spread for sandwiches. What’s more, it’s vegan, creamy, full of flavor, and lasts for months. I’ve found that buying 7-ounce can of chipotle in adobo sauce is a lifesaver. I prefer the La Costeña brand. Just put it in a sealed container and pop it in the refrigerator—good luck not finishing it all in one sitting.
Time: 10 minutes, plus time to soak Potency per recipe: 14.5 mg Yield: 1 cup
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
1 cup raw cashews
½ cup soy, almond, or coconut milk
2 to 3 chipotle peppers
1 teaspoon adobo sauce
1 small clove garlic
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon agave nectar or raw sugar
1 teaspoon cannabis-infused avocado seed oil
salt, to taste
WHAT TO DO
1. At least one hour up to one night before, soak your cashews in a bowl of hot water with a pinch of salt; you can either leave the soaking nuts on your counter or refrigerate. Strain cashews and store covered in the refrigerator until ready to blend.
2. In a blender, add the soaked cashews, milk, peppers, adobo sauce, and garlic, and pulse until smooth.
3. Add the lime, sugar, cannabis-infused oil, and a pinch of salt.
4. Blend until smooth, using a wooden spoon to remove any chunks that might not be blending.
5. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Classic Weed Balsamic Vinaigrette
I honestly don’t remember the last time I bought salad dressing. It’s not because I’m a domestic goddess—okay maybe a little. It’s mostly because making salad dressing at home is much easier and more inexpensive, and you know exactly what you’re putting into it. A classic vinaigrette is a perfect match for the deep and earthy profile of a cannabis-infused olive oil. This recipe for balsamic vinaigrette comes from a great friend, author, and home cook, David Lida. Use at your discretion with any salad and use bread to soak up whatever is left on your plate.
Time: 15 minutes Potency per recipe: 30 mg Yield: 1 cup
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon cannabis-infused olive oil
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
WHAT TO DO
In a dish, whisk together the garlic pieces, salt, pepper, Dijon, and cannabis-infused oil. Add the regular olive oil and vinegar and whisk to combine. Add more vinegar or oil to your taste.
Green Ganja Dressing
Green Goddess dressing: originally created in San Francisco and now widely loved throughout the entire world. This simple pesto-like dressing is just as easy to make as it is to eat. I put it on everything—bread, salad, grilled chicken. Sometimes I eat spoonfuls of it when no one is watching. (Is that weird? Probably.) This recipe, which uses cannabis-infused olive oil, has a nice earthy taste. Cannabis-infused avocado seed oil works beautifully, too. You decide.
Time: 15 minutes Potency per recipe: 30 mg Yield: 2 cups
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
1½ cups plain yogurt
1½ packed cups basil leaves
¼ packed cup chives
2 cloves garlic
1 green onion, chopped
2 anchovy fillets, optional
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 lime, zested
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons cannabis-infused olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
WHAT TO DO
Add all the ingredients into a blender and purée. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
Guacamole Mágico
Livi
ng both in Mexico and California, I know a good guacamole. The simpler, the better. If you have avocado you’re basically set, because the rest, you’ll likely have on hand. I like to eat my guac with plantain chips rather than tortilla chips because I’m still an African girl, but feel free to accompany it with whatever your stoner heart desires.
Time: 10 minutes Potency per recipe: 14.5 mg Yield: 2 cups
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
4 avocados, pitted
½ small onion, minced
½ jalapeño, minced
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cannabis-infused olive oil
fresh or dried cilantro, for garnish
WHAT TO DO
Scoop all the avocado flesh into a medium bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix with a spoon to reach your desired chunkiness. Garnish with cilantro.
Chapter Seven
Mains and Sides
Cute and Cheesy Macaroni Bake
Let me get real with you for a second. You can legit just use a box of really yummy organic macaroni and cheese, mix some weed butter in it, and call it a chill night. But mac and cheese isn’t hard to make. For better or worse, being a black girl raised in the United States has stereotyped me into not only loving this dish, but also knowing how to make it from scratch. What black Thanksgiving have you ever been to that doesn’t have homemade macaroni and cheese? What funeral or wake? What really good cookout (well, maybe that gets switched for macaroni salad but you get my point). I dare you to make this at your next family event. And please, for legal reasons and for just plain being a good person, make sure everyone knows that there’s weed in this dish. Adults only. Use whatever type of cheddar cheese you like best for this recipe—mild, regular, or sharp.
Time: 45 minutes Potency per serving: 3.75 mg Yield: 4 servings
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
2 cups dry macaroni pasta
2 tablespoons flour
½ cup cream cheese
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon cannabutter, room temperature
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1½ cups shredded white cheddar cheese, divided
WHAT TO DO
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. In a medium pot, boil water. Once boiling, add the macaroni.
3. Cook pasta on medium-high heat for 7 to 10 minutes, or until al dente, then strain.
4. Put strained pasta into a large mixing bowl, then add the flour, cream cheese, milk, butters, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic, and half of the cheddar. Mix well to combine.
5. Transfer the pasta mixture into four individual oven-safe ramekins or, if you’d prefer, an oven-safe baking dish. Then, add the remaining cheddar on top.
6. Bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and slightly browned.
7. Let sit for 5 minutes to cool before serving.
West African Fried Chicken
Fried chicken is more of an American staple than it is African. Turns out most Southern staples are a mix of African, Indigenous, and European cuisines, which makes total sense when we think about the history of the United States and its foundations. But growing up in a West African household in the 1980s meant that on occasion, my mother would treat us to “American” cuisine. Mostly, we ate traditional West African dishes like cassava leaf and rice, jollof rice, fufu, and soup. So when my sweet mother treated us girls to fried chicken, she put her take on it—spicy and savory, with a hint of sweet, and lots of crunchiness. I’m super excited to share with you my take on my mama’s West African fried chicken recipe, with a hint of cannabis of course. You can substitute cayenne chili powder for the chopped peppers if you don’t have any on hand. This recipe is a low dose, meant for you to enjoy more than one piece without getting too blazed. You’re welcome.
Time: 50 minutes, plus time to marinate Potency per piece: 3.75 mg Yield: 8 pieces
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
3 pounds (8 mixed pieces) chicken
2 teaspoons cannabis-infused grapeseed oil
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped serrano or jalapeño peppers
1 teaspoon honey
1 egg
½ cup milk
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal (grits or polenta)
vegetable oil, for frying
WHAT TO DO
1. Clean the chicken and pat dry, then place it in a large bowl. Add the cannabis-infused grapeseed oil into the bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon or wooden spatula to make sure the oil coats the chicken evenly. This will ensure the most accurate dose per piece.
2. Add salt, black pepper, garlic, hot peppers, and honey, continuing to stir until the chicken is coated evenly.
3. Place chicken in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes to overnight.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg and milk together. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and cornmeal together.
5. Remove the marinated chicken from refrigerator.
6. In a deep frying pan, add about 1 inch of vegetable oil. Turn the burner up to medium-high heat. Allow the oil to heat up for 1 or 2 minutes. To test the heat, sprinkle a tiny grain of your flour mixture. If it pops up to surface, it’s ready for your chicken.
7. Dip each piece of chicken into the whisked egg and milk mixture, then into the flour. Gently pat the flour onto the chicken so that it sticks and coats each piece. Gently place the chicken pieces into the frying pan. Make sure to leave a little space in between each piece to keep them from sticking together while frying.
8. With tongs or a large metal spoon, turn each piece every 5 minutes for about 20 minutes total, until the pieces are perfectly brown. If it seems like the chicken is cooking too fast or spattering too much oil, turn the burner down to medium.
9. Once cooked, place the chicken onto a couple sheets of wax paper or paper towels. Let rest for a couple minutes and then serve!
Garlic-Crunch Sweet Potato Fries
Do you know someone who doesn’t like fries? I don’t. And what’s better than fries? Sweet potato fries! They’re ingenious, taste waaaaay better than regular potato fries, and are much better for you. (I like to keep on some of the skin.) They have obscene amounts of potassium, vitamin C, fiber, and calcium, and are known by some health gurus to help fight cancer because of their antioxidant properties. Sweet potatoes help lower blood sugar, despite being sweet. They’re also a great, inexpensive baby food. Just bake in the oven in aluminum foil and mash up for the baby. She’ll love them! But this recipe is not for babies—it’s just for fancy grown-ups at a weed-infused dinner.
Time: 45 minutes Potency per serving: 3.75 mg Yield: 4 servings
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled as desired, cut lengthwise into ½-inch strips
2 large cloves garlic, minced
pinch of coarse salt
1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
pinch of cayenne
4 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon cannabis-infused sunflower oil
WHAT TO DO
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Place the potatoes in a baking dish, spreading them out evenly.
3. Mix in your spices and oils, making sure to coat the potatoes evenly. Bake for 45 minutes, until crispy. Mix halfway through the cooking time.
Cheesy Flatbread Pizzas
Perhaps flatbread is pizza to you, but to me, it’s an opportunity to make pizza’s more chill, less needy sister. Not that there’s anything wrong with being needy. Let’s just say that I’m a major fangirl of flatbread. It’s easy to make because you don’t have to wait around all day for the dough to rise. You can eat it plain or put just ab
out anything on it. I went the classic route of vegetables and melty cheese to make it more pizza like, but be adventurous if you’d like. Add slices of pear, chunks of blue cheese, and arugula. Get fancy and top it with thin shaves of prosciutto and Parmesan on a bed of caramelized onions. Or you can be lazy and only add salt, honey, dried herbs, and drizzles of cannabis-infused olive oil. It does not matter what you do to this flatbread; it is going to gently rock your world.
Time: 45 minutes Potency per serving: 3.75 mg Yield: 8 servings
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
For the flatbread:
1¾ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of coarse salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons cannabis-infused olive oil
½ cup water
dried herbs of choice, optional
For the topping:
½ cup mozzarella
handful of cherry tomatoes
1 large zucchini, sliced
½ red onion, thinly sliced
pinch of oregano
pinch of salt
WHAT TO DO
1. Preheat your oven to 420°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a little hole and add your oils and water, slowly mixing with a spoon until it comes together.
3. Pick up the dough and knead a couple times. Add in desired herbs, if using. Roll out into 2 or 3 sections.
4. Place the dough sections onto a dry pizza or cookie sheet and place in the center rack of the oven for 3 to 5 minutes until it is about halfway golden.
5. Take the bread out of the oven and add toppings in your preferred order.
6. Place the dough back into oven for 10 minutes, lowering the temperature to 375°F. Keep an eye on it to be sure it cooks to your preference.
7. Let cool before removing onto a cutting board or pizza dish, and enjoy!
Alternatively, while making the flatbread, you can use 5 tablespoons of non-infused olive oil, and while topping the flatbread, use 2 tablespoons of Elevated Tomato Sauce (page 73) to get your buzz.
The Art of Weed Butter Page 6