Lang - The Southern vegetable book : a root-to-stalk guide to the Souths favorite produce

The Southern

Vegetable

Book

A ROOT-TO-STALK GUIDE TO THE SOUTHS FAVORITE PRODUCE

BY REBECCA LANG

2016 Time Inc. Books

Published by Oxmoor House, an imprint of Time Inc. Books

225 Liberty Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10281

Southern Living is a registered trademark of Time Inc. Lifestyle Group.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, excepting brief quotations in connection with reviews written specifically for inclusion in magazines or newspapers, or limited excerpts strictly for personal use.

Senior Editors: Katherine Cobbs, Rachel Quinlivan West, R.D.

Assistant Project Editors: Melissa Brown, Lauren Moriarty

Senior Designers: Melissa Clark, Maribeth Jones

Cover and Letter Artist: Michael Tabie, Two Arms Inc.

Executive Photography Director: Iain Bagwell

Photo Editor: Kellie Lindsey

Photographers: Hlne Dujardin, Victor Protasio

Senior Photo Stylists: Kay E. Clarke, Mindi Shapiro Levine

Food Stylists: Nathan Carrabba, Victoria E. Cox, Margaret Monroe Dickey, Catherine Crowell Steele

Food Styling Assistant: Rishon Hanners

Test Kitchen Manager: Alyson Moreland Haynes

Senior Recipe Developer and Tester: Callie Nash

Recipe Developers and Testers: Julia Levy, Karen Rankin

Assistant Production Director: Sue Chodakiewicz

Assistant Production Manager: Diane Rose Keener

Copy Editors: Donna Baldone, Julie Bosch

Proofreader: Julie Gillis

Indexer: Nanette Cardon

Fellows: Jessica Baude, Dree Deacon, Olivia Pierce, Natalie Schumann, Mallory Short

eISBN : 978-0-84874-752-7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015954515

Printed in China

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Printing 2016

For Kevin, Camden, and Adair

The three of you are my home.

From The Author

I was a lucky child. Vegetables seemed to be everywhere. If there werent plump tomatoes on the vine, there were mustard greens swishing in the sink or huge Vidalia onions being carefully loaded into the legs of pantyhose. I may not have been very high off the ground when I started to take note of the vegetables in my life, but I still was drawn in by their vivid colors, range of aromas, and the way they seemed to bring everyone together.

Thanks to growing up in a farming community, I often saw vegetables come in the back door in bushels rather than in grocery store bags. It was those grand volumes of fresh produce that drew my parents and my grandmothers to the screened porch to shuck, shell, string, or snap. Fingers would work while legs gently nudged gliders and rockers into a contagious rhythm. My hometown was small but the crops seemed to be plentiful. It was a town surrounded by farmland and pine trees. It was an ideal setting to learn the value of the journey from seed to plate.

The South has been home to some of Americas most fertile soil for generations. We take pride in the harvest and pay homage to each season by whats cooked in our kitchens. The long Southern growing season makes farmers from most other regions envious.

Our relationship with the vegetables we eat is ever changing. Weve gone from a time when vegetables were planted, nurtured, and harvested only by those who would eat them to a day when nearly every vegetable is available year-round in the produce section. A new respect for vegetables is emerging as we Southerners recommit to the standards that our grandparents lived and farmed by. Eat whats in season, put up for when its not, cook what grows nearby, and be thankful for the Southern soil, the rain, and the sun.

Rebecca Lang

Introduction To Southern Vegetables

Thanks to farmers markets and local sources, we now realize what our grandparents knew all along and pay respect to all the glorious produce the Southern soil offers.

We live in a time where many family farms surrounding our towns have been turned into subdivisions, and congested interstates equal longer and longer commutes between plant and plate. After years of this belief that seasonless eating was better, we are finally coming to our senses and eating closer to home in the season that each vegetable was intended to be consumed. Our grandparents knew this. Our great-great grandparents knew this. Over the years, we seemed to have lost our way, but we are, at last, seeing clearer.

Tomatoes taste better in summer for a reason. Asparagus in springtime is sweeter. Not only do vegetables explode with more flavor when harvested in their God-given season, but their appearance serves as marks on a natural calendar to remind us what should be on our plates.

Because seasons overlap in the South, many vegetables can grow in both spring and fall. Thats one beauty of having growing seasons that gently flow one into another with rarely a single jolt of change. Beets may appear on your Thanksgiving table as well as your Easter table. Carrots are likely to do the same. Its one of the perks of living in the South.

Start a weekly vegetable plate tradition for supper at least one day a week. Youll be shocked at the money youll save and appreciate the vitamin and antioxidant punch youre adding to your diet. Keep an eye on the colors on your plate. You want to enjoy the greatest mix of vegetables all across the spectrum of colors. From deep red beets to snow white cauliflower, each and every color is nutritionally valuable.

WAYS TO SHOP FOR THE BEST VEGETABLES

Shopping for vegetables today means you have a plethora of choices. Grocery stores appear every mile in some cities and farmers markets are popping up more and more. Some farmers offer shares in their farms in what is called community supported agriculture, which provides a range of produce that varies week to week in exchange for your investment. With so many options and such a difference between them all, it can be hard to decipher what the best source is. Here are my tips for buying the best vegetables no matter where you shop.

GROCERY STORES

In the grocery store, make sure to read labels of country of origins of vegetables and the information on any that are labeled organic. If a pint of blueberries came all the way from Chile, you need to know that. Even in the grocery store, I try to buy whats in season. I wouldnt buy a watermelon in December (although I could). Be your own advocate. Slow down and read what youre eating.