Vegetarian

The little zing of this crunchy mustard slaw is just the right thing to round off the kick of cayenne in the catfish and the bite of cheddar in the hush puppies.

PAT New husbands, this one is for you. An ole vet to the marriage world, Gina always feeds me these delicious bite-sized fried bread balls whenever I start to talk too much—as a way to keep me quiet. You don’t see me complaining! If you’re not up for deep-frying, you can serve the corn bread sticks on page 23 instead.

Remember to start with fresh spices for that sweet, savory, and spicy balance.

Angel biscuits are so easy to make that they’re often called “bride biscuits.” They have three different types of leavening, so they always rise up fluffy and tall.

PAT Gina loves the daintiness of these “baby reds,” and the garlic, rosemary, and olive oil pop on your palate. But Spenser and Shelbi inherited their need for some potatoes with most meals from their daddy. We love us some taters.

It’s springtime, y’all! So—sauté these peas in butter with onions, and a hit of red-pepper flakes, and your kitchen will fill with the smells of this wonderful season. It’ll put you and your guests in a happy mood and put a spring in everybody’s step.

PAT Gina introduced me to drunken goat cheese, and if you haven’t had it, you haven’t had cheese. (You can find it at Whole Foods and other fine food stores.) Drunken goat is semifirm and cured in red wine, so it has a maroon-colored skin. Flavorful and smooth, it goes great on a ripe-tomato sandwich. If you don’t have softened butter at the ready, a good shortcut is to spread plain mayonnaise on the outsides of the sandwiches instead. They’ll fry up just as crisp and golden as they will with butter.

GINA My attraction to mangoes was confirmed on a trip Pat and I took to Mexico. The velvety fruit tastes like an exotic mix of pineapples and peaches, and the flavor just explodes in your mouth. In creating this salsa, I stuck with Mexican tradition and added fresh cilantro, which you can chop or tear apart. Cilantro also offers a health benefit by soothing the digestive system. So, little do the guys know, I’m taking care of their stomachs as well as their appetite! (Ladies, y’all can thank me later.) Mind you, I was a little skeptical about whether they’d go for it, so I deep-fried the tortilla chips, so they’d have something familiar to dip.

GINA Who doesn’t like a good potato? I know I married a meat-and-potatoes man, and so does Tanya. She always finds a way to make great potatoes, and these are some of her very best. Buttery and garlicky—yum. PAT Baby, you can’t do pork chops without mashed potatoes. There’s something about taking your fork and getting a bite of pork chop and garlic mashed potatoes at the same time. You just take both of those jokers and let ’em hit the palate!

If you’re a Ro*tel lover, then this is your dish. (In case you aren’t familiar, it’s a blend of diced tomatoes with green chiles, often used to make a mean chili con queso.) We love how Tanya adds spinach to her version of this popular Southern dip, so it makes us feel healthy and good even though it’s still a “comfort” food. We’re typically starving upon arrival, and a great spicy spinach dip with a bowl of tortilla chips is a good way to take the edge off. Throw your luggage down and dig in!

This is what we mean about keeping it light and sexy: we all know asparagus is good for us, but it’s also known to be an aphrodisiac. So we’re not only enjoying our holiday but we’re also paving the road to romance. The smokiness of the roasted tomatoes, the tender crispness of the asparagus, and the bitter and sweet flavors of arugula—all of that says L-O-V-E to us.

PAT In our house there’s always some barbecue going on (even if we’re not grilling, we’re adding the spice). These chips are dusted with paprika, garlic, sugar, and salt, and once they’re out of the fryer, they quickly disappear (so make two batches!).

Broccoli is Spenser’s favorite vegetable, and she’s partial to this recipe. It’s a beautiful dish that’s also very flavorful, not to mention healthy.

PAT Gina’s told me before, “If you like the kickoff, then you’re going to love these poppers!” They have the perfect amount of kick to them. Between the smokiness of the paprika and the heat of the cayenne pepper, take one bite and the game is on! We remove the jalapeño seeds so that the poppers aren’t too hot, but leave them in if you like really spicy. After all, I am a hot man, and I mean that both palate-wise and physical-wise (and, as you can tell, I’m very, very humble). Jalapeños are a vegetable that you can get seriously creative with: filling them up with cheese, using buttermilk in a batter, and deep-frying these little puppies makes one of the best appetizers you can imagine.