Cooking with Cannabis: Summer Edition

Summer is in full swing and temperatures are reaching record-breaking highs. What better way to spruce up your favourite sunny day recipes than with our favourite herb, cannabis. From cannabis ice cream to infused Mexican sweet corn, these delicacies are better enjoyed by a pool or lake on a beautiful day.

Cannabis Ice Cream

I’m going to start off strong with my favourite summer treat, ice cream. This creamy dessert (or main course) has a special ingredient, cannabis! This recipe is a bit more complicated so I would consider it for a more intermediate home chef.

Ingredients:
-2 grams cannabis of choice. Try to stay away from indica strains that will leave you feeling heavy throughout the rest of your day if you eat this before planning to sleep
-500 ml of heavy cream
-2 tbsp butter or olive oil
-75 grams of sugar
-2 ripe bananas
-1 pinch of salt
-5 tbsp honey
-2 tbsp rum
-Fun ingredients to take this recipe to the next level (I used blueberries and vanilla but the opportunities and combinations are endless!)

Decarboxylate:

The first step to any cannabis concoction is decarboxylating your flowers. This step is easy to
do but ensures that all of that good THC you need is active. Simply break down the flower and
spread it onto a baking sheet before putting it in the oven at 250 for 25-30 minutes. After it has
cooled down you are ready to start on the ice cream!

Instructions:

1. In a thick-bottomed pot heat the cream over medium heat, stirring slowly. Add the butter, salt, and sugar. Make sure to keep stirring!
2. Once all of your ingredients are melted and thoroughly stirred, it’s time to grind up your cannabis. Once it’s powder-fine it can be added to your cream mixture.
3. Add in your mashed banana, honey, and rum. Stir, stir, stir.
4. Blend everything until smooth with a hand blender.
5. Pour your mixture into a freezer-safe container. This is where the fun part happens! Add any extra ingredients to your creation, this is when I added my blueberries.
6. Freeze for at least 4 hours before eating.

Cannabis-Infused Mexican Street Corn

This traditional street food is mouth-watering grilled corn smothered in mayonnaise, cheese, and lime. For our infused recipe we will be making spicy butter packed with THC. These luxurious yellow cobs would be the perfect addition to a backyard BBQ.

Ingredients:

-10 ears of corn in husks
-1 cup cotija cheese
-1 lime
-1 cup butter
-2 grams of cannabis
-1/2 tsp paprika
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp cumin
-1/2 tsp cayenne
-1/2 tsp chipotle powder
-1/2 tsp garlic powder

Making Your Cannabis Butter:

1. Start by decarboxylating your cannabis which I detailed in the above recipe. 
2. Melt your butter on the stovetop with 1 cup of water.
3. Add in your 1 cup of ground, decarboxylated marijuana, and simmer. Keep the heat low, lightly simmering for 2-3 hours. Stir occasionally. 
4. Once the butter has cooled pour it through a cheesecloth to remove the pieces of cannabis throughout. 
5. Refrigerate your final product in a jar. If any water separates, pour it out. We only want the infused butter.
6. Add all of your spices to the cold butter in a food processor.

Grilling The Corn:

1. Grill your corn on high heat with the husks still on. When every side of your husk is blackened it’s ready to be taken off.
2. Peel your corn and top with your spicy cannabis butter.
3. Roll your buttered corn in the cotija cheese and squeeze with lime. I like to add chilli flakes and cilantro for an extra kick.

Fish Tacos With Cannabis Salsa

To me, fish tacos are the food of summer. Some of the best days are ones spent on the beach with a tortilla full of freshly caught fish. 

Ingredients:

- 1 large piece of fish. This can be whatever is seasonal or caught in your area although salmon and fluffy, white fish works best. Right now in BC, it’s spring salmon season, so that’s what I will be using for mine.
- 8 corn tortillas
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp cannabis oil
- 1 whole lime, juiced
- 1tsp each: chilli powder, paprika, garlic powder, cumin.! 
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 2 medium ripe avocados, cubed
- 2 medium mangoes, cubed
- 1/2 smaller red onion
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- Jalapeños
- Cilantro

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 150. Start by splitting the salt, oil, and lime juice into 2 separate halves.
2. In a small bowl, mix all of your spices together with 1/4 tsp salt and 2 tbsp cannabis oil. Marinate your fish in this mixture for at least 5 minutes.
3. In another bowl assemble your salsa. Mix the avocado, mango, red onion, cannabis oil, and 1 tsp lime juice.
4. Sear your marinated fish in a cast iron pan on medium heat and sear for about 8 minutes until golden brown. 
5. In another bowl mix sour cream with remaining lime juice and salt to drizzle on the finished product.
6. Bake tortillas in the preheated oven for 5 minutes.
7. Now to assemble or delicious treats! Add the salmon and salsa to the corn tortillas. Drizzle with the sour cream and top with cilantro. This recipe is best enjoyed with your favourite tequila.

Cannabis Hummus

Hummus is the best pairing for veggies or crackers no matter the time of year. This snack is perfect for any chickpea lover that wants to lay back and relax while they snack.

Ingredients:

- 2 cans drained chickpeas
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 tbsp THC oil
- Cumin, pepper, paprika, salt to taste
- 1/4 cup tahini

Instructions:

1. Put everything in a food processor.
2. Top with olive oil and paprika
3. Serve!

Have you tried to make any of these delicious, cannabis-infused summer recipes? Let us know in the comments below. Happy cooking!