Talking my friends into sharing their health stories and their favorite go-to recipes is cathartic. It also reminds me of just how many amazing women I get to engage with at home and across the country. I am rich in personal connections and I’m so proud to highlight as many (cool and (mostly)) Indigenous women as I can on this blog.

Maybe there’s more to come from Susan Chapman Plumb (Cherokee Nation) on this blog at a later date, but we’ll start with this recipe she sent over for her basic bean salad. Oh, who am I kidding? We’ll get to the bean salad shortly.

Native women lawyers hold a special place in my heart. They do a lot. Their bandwidth in our communities is absolutely incredible. In addition to being a lawyer by trade, Susan is a mom to wonderful adult daughters (including Arkansas Razorbacks and a former Miss Cherokee).

She has been instrumental in providing critical board leadership for several nonprofits inside the Cherokee Nation including Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc. and a comprehensive health system’s foundation arm. She was delegate to our tribe’s constitutional convention and has served as Chairperson of the Cherokee Nation Election Commission, which is not a task for the faint of heart.

And if that’s not enough, she’s also on the Board of the KC Federal Reserve (representing Oklahoma).

And did I mention she runs a bank? Yep. Board Chair and CEO of Bank of Cherokee County, one of the first Native CDFIs, if not the first, to be certified by United States Treasury.

And she makes a wicked Bean Salad. This recipe is pretty much the only thing about Susan that is, “basic.”

Susan’s Basic Bean Salad

One can cannellni beans

3-4 chopped mini red/yellow peppers

small celery stalk w leaves chopped

1 green onion chopped

10 is Sweet cherry/grape tomatoes halved

Pepper to taste

Nature’s Own Seasoning to taste

Newman’s Own Classic Vinegar and Oil

Add course ground prepared mustard and a little vinegar and olive oil

Optional:

Tuna fillet in olive oil

And shredded Parmesan

Of course you can use whatever you have on hand ….. cucumbers, parsley, carrots asparagus, heart of palm, olives artichokes, etc.