There are few agricultural traditions as old as the Native American practice known as the “three sisters.” The method of planting corn, beans, and squash closely together dates back thousands of years in Central Mexico and spread through storytelling in the Americas.

As Pyet DeSpain explains in her upcoming cookbook, Rooted In Fire: A Celebrations of Native American and Mexican Cooking, this tradition is based on patient and clever observation of how crops may benefit one another.

“The big sister, corn, goes into the soil first because its stalk provides vertical structure that is the perfect support for bean vines. The roots of the middle sister, beans, replenish the soil … while freeing space down below for the little sister, squash, which grows close to the ground,” DeSpain writes.

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As summer gardeners know, this practice of intercropping plants is still useful today. In backyards, where growing space and sunlight can be limited, growing three mutually beneficial crops together is a reliable technique for making the most from a bed.

Thankfully, DeSpain’s recipe for a “Three Sister’s Salad” is a delicious use of those crops, which should be hitting their seasonal summer peak soon. While the recipe can work with frozen corn or canned beans, it turns out even better with those ingredients fresh from the garden.

Three Sisters Salad

Serves 4

1/2 teaspoon sunflower seed oil

1/4 white onion, diced

1 cup fresh or frozen corn,

thawed (or 11-ounce can)

1 zucchini, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

15 ounces cooked black beans (or

canned black beans, drained)

Pinch of kosher salt

Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Coat the bottom of a skillet with the sunflower oil, and heat over medium heat.

Add the onion, and saute until translucent. Add the corn, zucchini, and thyme, and stir to combine.

Cook for 2 minutes, mix gently, and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Add the beans to the skillet, and mix gently again. Season with the salt and pepper.

Cover with a lid and continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve warm.

Excerpted from Rooted In Fire: A Celebrations of Native American and Mexican Cooking. Reprinted with permission from HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright 2025.

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