Cicadas are poised to infest whole swaths of American backyards this summer. Maybe itB次元官网网址檚 time they invaded your kitchen.

Swarms of the red-eyed bugs, who are reemerging after 17 years below ground, offer a chance for home cooks to turn the tables and make them into snacks.

Full of protein, gluten-free, low-fat and low-carb, cicadas were used as a food source by Native Americans and are still eaten by humans in many countries.

B次元官网网址淲e really have to get over our dislike of insects, which is really strong and deep-seated in most people in our culture,B次元官网网址� said author of B次元官网网址淓at-a-Bug CookbookB次元官网网址� and known as the Bug Chef.

B次元官网网址淵ou could make stir fry. You can mix them into dough to make bread B次元官网网址� make banana bread, letB次元官网网址檚 say. You can batter them and deep fry them, which I think would be my favorite way,B次元官网网址� he said.

This yearB次元官网网址檚 group is called Brood X, and they can be seen in 15 Eastern states from Indiana to Georgia to New York. Their cacophonous mating song can drown out the noise of passing jets.

When the soil warms up enough, cicadas emerge from the ground, where theyB次元官网网址檝e been sucking moisture from tree roots for the past 13 or 17 years, depending on species. They shed their exoskeletons, attach themselves to branches, mate and lay eggs before dying off in about six weeks.

When eating adult cicadas, itB次元官网网址檚 advised to pull the wings and legs off to reduce the crunchiness. But Gordon advises home cooks to gather the cicadas when theyB次元官网网址檙e nymphs, before their body armor hardens and while they are still soft and chewy, like soft shell crab.

He puts them in the freezer, a humane way to kill them. Once defrosted, cicadas can become a pizza topping like sundried tomatoes, or replace shrimp in any recipe. Others have followed his lead, including a dedicated to the cicada.

B次元官网网址淧eople canB次元官网网址檛 really deal with the idea of looking at a bug and eating it. So thatB次元官网网址檚 why I like tempura batter or something that just conceals the features of the nymph,B次元官网网址� Gordon said. B次元官网网址淧lus, IB次元官网网址檒l eat anything thatB次元官网网址檚 deep fried. I have a recipe in my book for a deep-fried tarantula spider and theyB次元官网网址檙e really good.B次元官网网址�

GordonB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淓at-a-Bug CookbookB次元官网网址� came out in 1998 and was greeted by hostility and jokes from late-night TV hosts. B次元官网网址淏ut of course, over the last 20 years, this is moving in the direction of being normalized,B次元官网网址� he said.

Gordon pointed to the rise of foodie culture and thrill-seeking eaters like chef Andrew Zimmern, but especially to a 2013 report from the United NationB次元官网网址檚 Food and Agriculture Organization as a turning point in interest in edible insects. The report estimated that insect-eating is practiced regularly by at least 2 billion people around the world, and that dozens of species have been documented as edible, including cicadas.

It also declared that edible insects are rich in protein and good fats, high in calcium, iron and zinc, emit fewer greenhouse gases than most livestock, and take very little farming space or water.

B次元官网网址淣ow people were taking what I had been saying all along more seriously,B次元官网网址� Gordon said. In America, B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e kind of the weirdos: 80% of the worldB次元官网网址檚 cultures eat insects, but weB次元官网网址檙e in that 20% that thinks itB次元官网网址檚 an abomination.B次元官网网址�

The number of mass-produced foods containing insects B次元官网网址� from protein bars to chips and pasta sauce B次元官网网址� has been rising. In parts of Asia, some insects are sold in bags like salted peanuts or in tubes like stacked potato chips. A German company makes burgers out of mealworms.

B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e a much healthier option for the planet,B次元官网网址� said an evolutionary biologist and ecologist who has worked as a climate change adviser for UN agencies like the Food and Agriculture Organization. B次元官网网址淓specially in light of the fact that we will shortly have to feed 9 billion people.B次元官网网址�

Jadin notes with a laugh that once the mighty, high-cost lobster was deemed so repulsive in the West that it was fed to prisoners. B次元官网网址淧erceptions change,B次元官网网址� she said.

She notes that the Food and Agriculture Organization estimates about 18% of the worldB次元官网网址檚 greenhouse gas emissions are due to animal agriculture.

Adventurous eaters might start with insects at the which has stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and a vibrant online presence. Its insect section includes a bag of grasshoppers for $9.99 or chocolate-covered crickets for $6.99.

Co-owner Derek Medico said he sells one item B次元官网网址� a $9.99 mixed bag of dehydrated grasshoppers, mole crickets, silkworms, crickets and sago worms B次元官网网址� thousands of times a year. B次元官网网址淚 think a lot of it just the novelty,B次元官网网址� he said.

And he doesnB次元官网网址檛 expect to see consistent demand for insects anytime soon.

B次元官网网址淚n other countries and other cultures, thatB次元官网网址檚 much more accepted and much more normal,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淏ut here, I just think itB次元官网网址檚 just going to take a while.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擬ark Kennedy, The Associated Press