Vegetarian

Allowing the farmer’s market to determine the mix of beans in this filling salad gives new meaning to the traditional “three-bean salad.” Fresh beans are always a treat, but I make this dish year-round by using canned navy, garbanzo, or cannellini beans when fresh ones aren’t available. If using canned beans, just skip the blanching step and toss the beans with the herb vinaigrette.

Southerners just love beets—perhaps because beets are one of the rare vegetables that will grow in the South straight through spring and summer and all the way into the fall. But I like to make this jewel-toned salad best in the spring, when you can get multicolor carrots, like Yellowstones, Purple Dragons, Atomic Reds, and Yayas, and beets, like Boros, Bulls’ Bloods, and Candy Stripes.

My friend Roxy makes this zingy coleslaw, which I love for its sweet and tangy flavors. It’s as close as I come to making that classic, creamy Southern slaw that goes with everything from pulled pork or fried fish to burgers and fries. It also makes a great topping for grilled hot dogs or chicken sausages served in grilled pita bread.

I created this delicate slaw to showcase the vegetables—curlicue pea shoots, tender carrots, spicy arugula, and fresh herbs—that mark the arrival of spring.

The quick blanching process used in this superfresh salad unlocks the beans’ flavors without boiling away their satisfyingly snappy crispness. As with most salads, using few, minimally processed ingredients means that the quality of each ingredient—from the oil to the greens and even the salt—plays a significant role in the quality of the finished product. Using high-quality seasonal ingredients makes this salad positively shine.

This is my standard winter vegetable side, which is so simple, comforting, and savory-sweet that I make it at least once a week during the cold months.

This is a refined version of those marshmallow-topped sweet potato casseroles that are popular around the holidays. The crunchy, buttery streusel topping and unexpected addition of orange zest and black and cayenne peppers make for a wonderfully fragrant and complexly flavored twist on a comfort-food classic.

Anytime I go to Galotoire’s, in New Orleans, I start by ordering a round of their legendary fried eggplant. The thing that makes it special—and so distinctly New Orleansian—is the strange but delicious mix of confectioners’ sugar and Tabasco sauce that is served on the side, for dipping.

We had fried okra almost nightly at my grandmother’s house during the summer. It’s my mom’s idea of a green vegetable, how can you fault her? It is green, underneath the golden, deep-fried crust.

I’ve shared recipes for fried green tomatoes before, but each time I’ve tried to gussy them up by adding herbs or layering them with other ingredients. I like those dishes, of course, but the fact is there is something wonderful about making fried green tomatoes the way my mother and grandmother made them—that is, simply. Stripped of nonessentials, the warm tartness of green tomatoes, tempered by a hint of sugar, and the toasted crunch of cornmeal crust shine through in perfect balance.

Sweet Vidalia onions are the perfect foil for the salty crust on these beer-battered onion rings, which make great party food along with Pimiento Cheese Burgers (page 187). Serve them in high street-food style by piling individual servings in handheld cones rolled from newspaper, brown paper bags, or butcher paper. Let the batter sit for the full three hours; this will allow deep, yeasty flavors to develop.

What better way to make use of the frenzy of vegetables that bursts on the scene in midsummer than these easy grilled skewers, all dressed up in pesto vinaigrette. Keep it fun and simple by loading the skewers with whatever mix of fresh, seasonal vegetables you find at the market.

These baked sweet potato halves couldn’t be easier to throw together, but the unexpected addition of piney rosemary and fresh lime makes them anything but ordinary.

This recipe is a Foster family standard, a permanent fixture at holidays and other large family gatherings. Along with most other Southerners, I’ve been a huge fan of sweet potatoes for as long as I can remember, but in my case I think this sticky-sweet preparation may be the root of my obsession. When I make it today, I add fresh orange juice and zest to brighten the flavors and cut the sweetness just a hair, yielding what I think of as a grown-up version of this childhood favorite.

The secret to making perfect mashed potatoes–the sort of classically creamy, fluffy mashers that are the stuff of comfort food fantasies—is starting with the right spuds. Waxy potatoes, which are high in moisture and low in starch, have full-bodied flavor that adds depth of character, and they hold up well when boiled, but they tend to get gluey when mashed. Starchy potatoes, on the other hand, are more one-dimensional in flavor but are better at absorbing moisture, which means that they whip up beautifully. I use midrange potatoes, such as Yukon Golds, russets, or round purple-skinned Caribes, which allow me to take advantage of the best of both worlds.

Succotash is a traditional stew of fresh butter beans and corn made velvety by the last-minute addition of butter. The basics—beans and corn—are a must, but beyond that it seems most every Southern family has its own particular version. I typically let the farmer’s market determine the mix of vegetables, but this rendition, with sweet bell peppers, basil, and summer squash, is one of my all-time favorites.

Granny Foster used to make this buttery treat with the sweetest summer corn. I make mine with corn and squash. She would scrape or “milk” the cobs with the back of a knife to get out all the starchy liquid, thus thickening the cooking liquid without diluting the bright corn flavor.

Carolina Gold rice, a fat, golden-hued, long-grained variety native to South Carolina, is so flavorful that only simple preparations are required. It is excellent in its most basic form, cooked in water with just a little salt and pepper, but for special occasions I opt for this gently embellished preparation.