Cooking Vegetables and Side Dishes in Mama's KitchenLet's talk about cooking vegetables and side dishes the southern way.
Traditionally, southerners used a lot of pork fat, lard (comes from rendering the fat of the pig and is used for cooking oil) and butter as well as a lot of spices.
The biggest thing to remember when cooking southern vegetables, is to not get in too big of a hurry. Granted, some vegetables you need to be careful not to overcook but ones like greens and beans, if left to simmer on the stove all day, get better with time. The seasonings have a better chance to mix with the food and become one flavor. Whether you fry, boil, simmer, saute, bake or broil; southern vegetables are packed with flavor. Casserole dishes go back to the days of Potluck dinners which have been popular at church functions in the south for hundreds of years.
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Nowadays, you can make it a little healthier by using smoked turkey, vegetable or canola oil, and margarine without sacrificing too much of the taste.
They're great because they can be made the night before and left in the refrigerator overnight. When you get home, you can pop them in the oven and most of the time, they'll be done in about an hour.
