Cookbook review: The Art of Cooking with Cannabis

By Shannon Chiarenza

There are now several cannabis cookbooks you can buy to take cooking with your favourite herb up a notch, and the cookbook The Art of Cooking with Cannabis – THC and CBD infused recipes across America by Tracey Medeiros will do just that.

Recognized with an Honourable Mention in the 2021 Readable Feast Awards, organic farmers, award-winning chefs, artisans and food producers across the country have provided 125 mouthwatering recipes, divided between the U.S. Northeast, Midwest, West and South, plus some from Canada.

The cookbook features an impressive collection of recipes for CBD-, hemp- and THC-infused dishes – vegan options, soups, drinks, salads, meat, fish and poultry dishes, desserts, pastas, snacks, appetizers … you name it! There are recipes for making cannabis-infused oils and butters, sugar, stock, pastry crust, honey, creamer, tea and tapioca.

READ MORE: Get baking to get baked: Tips on cooking with cannabis

A sampling from the CBD infused section:

• Vermont Milk Punch

• Flat Iron Steak and Grilled Stone Fruit salad with CBD-infused Honey Apple Cider Vinaigrette. • Grilled Smokey Eggplant Dip

• Heirloom Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella Salad with CBD and Lavender-infused Grapeseed Oil.

• Powerhouse CBD Green Smoothie

• Chicken Kale Meatballs with CBD-infused Cherry Tomato Sauce

A sampling of hemp-infused recipes:

• Hemp-infused Honey Citrus Tonic

• Vegetarian Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

• Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo

• Raw Hemp Leaf Pesto

• Wild Main Blueberry Sorbet

• Sfoglini Hemp Radiators with Ricotta Peas and Lemon

• Fresh Pressed Hemp Juice.

And from the THC-infused section:

• Toasted Coconut Turmeric Bhang,

• Cannabis-infused Creole Seasoning

• Lamb Stock

• Sh’mac and Cheese

• Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Brown Sugar Crumble and Wild Blueberries

• Cannabis-cured Salmon

• Kombucha, S’mores Brownies

• Ginger Snap Cookies

READ MORE: Canada’s first craft cannabis test kitchen to open this summer in Vancouver

There are so many more recipes than this, it’s really a little something for everyone. The recipes are easy to follow including explanations about dosing, guides for preparation, conversion charts and spotlights on the different award-winning chefs who submitted the recipes.

Author Tracey Medeiros created the cookbook to be diverse and for beginners or seasoned chefs alike. The cookbook focuses on healthy consumption of cannabis and all the different ways you can bring the plant into your culinary experience.

READ MORE: Cooking with cannabis: Necole Hines teaches clients to ‘start low, go slow’

Partial proceeds from the sale of the book are donated to Open for Good, a campaign to help independent restaurants to survive and thrive long term.

Pick up a copy of The Art of Cooking with Cannabis at your local book seller or Amazon.

– Shannon Chiarenza is the founder weedmama.ca