It’s funny how some foods are portrayed in pop culture. Spinach will make you strong, like Popeye. Thanksgiving turkey is always cut on the table. Cakes are always dripping with pink icing and a cherry on top, which is a look I’ve rarely (if ever) seen on an actual cake. Broccoli is frowned upon by kids who eat it only when forced to do so by their parents.

And Brussels sprouts I grew up knowing, from some ubiquitous source I can’t identify, that Brussels sprouts were just the worst. A vegetable that no one enjoyed. This seeming fact was so ingrained that for years, I avoided them.

Oof. SO much time wasted.

Fortunately, like sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts have been rescued from the soggy casseroles of old that may have contributed to their bad rap and have been resurrected as trendy, tasty sides and appetizers at millennial-bait restaurants around the country. And I couldn’t be happier! After a few tremendous restaurant experiences, I began to notice these green little balls of goodness everywhere and can rarely resist tossing a pound or two into my grocery bag.

Now there are lots of ways to prepare sprouts, and I’m sure that as my relationship with them progresses, I’ll expand my repertoire to include more interesting methods. But for now, I’m still obsessed with them seasoned simply and roasted to crispy, brown perfection.

With only olive oil, salt, pepper, and half an hour in a hot oven, these little vegetables hold their own against chips, popcorn, and French fries.

Now be careful: I’ve burned the ever-loving crap out of sprouts more times that I haven’t. Check them frequently after the 20-minute mark, they can go from a pale gold to smokin’ black in no time.

But if you do succeed, you’re in for a treat! These are great as an appetizer, side dish, or if we’re being perfectly honest, as an after-dinner movie snack that some of us may or may not eat with our fingers like popcorn.

Crispy Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Adapted from Ina Garten

Serves 2-4 (Remember, these will cook down A LOT in size. You may feel overwhelmed by their bulk when you first put them in the oven, but I urge you not to skimp.)

1 pound fresh Brussels sprouts
2 T olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher or flaky sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut off the ends of the sprouts and then cut the sprouts in half. Remove yellow or loose outer leaves and discard. Spread sprouts out on a large baking sheet in a single layer and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with half of the salt and pepper and toss well. Add the remaining salt and pepper.

Roast the sprouts for 25-40 minutes, tossing every 10-15 minutes, until the sprouts have browned and are crispy on the outside. Remove from oven and add more salt if desired.

Serve immediately.

But above all else, ’tis the season of local produce, each week appearing in more abundance and variety at farmers markets around the city. And though leafy greens tend to be the very first fresh items available, the truest harbinger of the coming summer bounty is the mighty asparagus spear.

These tender shoots are the rock stars on the local produce stage, producing a short-lived but iconic album every year to their adoring fans. For a brief moment, there is a glut of asparagus, piled high on market tables for eager customers to sort through, seeking the perfect stems. And then, just as suddenly, the harvest is over. This year, during these short lovely weeks of asparagus, I stumbled across this simple recipe that has quickly become my favorite.

Ready You need asparagus. And parmesan cheese. A pan, olive oil, and some pepper. And 10 minutes. That’s it!

The asparagus is cooked whole, in long spears, for just a few minutes until it’s bright green and slightly blistered on all sides. The parmesan cheese lends a salty and tangy flavor to the crisp spears. It’s a quick and easy side dish that really is that simple and pairs well with, well, just about everything.

It even stands well on its own, which I suppose is to be expected from the vegetable that marches at the front of the summer produce parade!

Parmesan Asparagus Spears
Adapted from Simply Recipes

1 T olive oil
a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound asparagus spears
1/2 c freshly grated parmesan cheese

Heat a medium to large frying pan over medium heat. Wash the asparagus, pat it dry, and trim the ends if they are scraggly. Add the olive oil to the frying pan and tilt the pan to coat the bottom. After a few seconds, the oil will begin to glisten. Add the asparagus in a single layer, and shake the pan slightly so the spears roll and become coated in oil. Sprinkle lightly with freshly ground black pepper.

Cook the asparagus for about 8 minutes (a bit longer if you’re using really thick asparagus) tossing frequently to cook it evenly on all sides.

Turn off the heat and lightly sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the asparagus. Without tossing the asparagus, allow the cheese to melt. Carefully lift the asparagus onto a serving platter or directly onto dinner plates, keeping the parmesan side facing up if possible.

My grandmother, who I’ve talked about quite a lot on this site, passed away this week just a few days before her 97th birthday. She was an inspiration to me in almost every way that affects this blog: canning, gardening, cooking, and even just appreciating the delight of fresh, homegrown food. She always insisted that the best recipes were the simplest ones, and that “modern recipes” just had too many unnecessary ingredients. I frequently watched her shake her head and scoff at magazine recipes bedazzled with so many obscure herbs and spices that you’d hardly be able to taste the feature of the dish (let alone afford to make it). Since she was renowned for what she could do with food from seed to table, I usually find it’s best to heed the advice she seemed to live by: grow food, buy fresh, cook simply, and savor the resulting meal.

To honor my grandmother, I want to share with you some of the simple, basic recipes that I rely upon heavily in my daily cooking. I admit, I feel both ridiculous for sharing them and also ridiculous for keeping them from you for so long. Sometimes it’s hard to decide what to share here in this space, and I often think, “nah, they don’t wanna hear about this, it’s nothing fancy.”

But then I remember that many of these dishes have entered my kitchen in only the last few years: why should I assume that they are already in yours It seems unfair to keep them to myself. Plus, while I’m sure we all love the idea of elaborate culinary projects resulting in surprising and impressive dishes, my guess is that most of you (like me) are ultimately just trying to put dinner on the table every night without relying on a microwave dinner or a frozen pizza. For me, having an repertoire composed of simple, savory dishes is the key to making this happen.

This is one of my favorite side dishes both in flavor and style, it goes well with just about anything, and it starts and ends with a bunch of carrots. Though many of us get our carrots mostly in the form of stripped-down nubbins that appear on veggie platters at office parties, this dish uses the whole thing. For this particular dish, I like to use the thinnest carrots I can find.

In fact, I don’t even peel my carrots anymore. Like a potato or an apple, the skin of a carrot contains a higher concentration of nutrients than the rest of the flesh. A bit of strong scrubbing is usually all I need to get nice, clean carrots, and by not peeling, less food is wasted.

Aside from the carrots, you’ll only need two other ingredients: a bit of butter for cooking, and a tablespoon of brown sugar for glazing. A little goes a long way: the sweetness of the carrots will emerge as they cook, and the brown sugar bumps it up just enough to lend a truly remarkable flavor. As usual, I favor dark brown sugar, which contains more molasses and a darker, deeper flavor.

The carrots cook in melted butter for about 20 minutes, and as they cook, they will begin to blister and char. Toss and turn them to make that deliciousness go all the way around!

At the very last minute, when the other elements of your meal are ready, add the sugar. If you cook it too long, the sugar will burn and your carrots will taste, well, burned. I usually toss the carrots around in the sugar just enough to let it dissolve before removing the carrots to a serving platter or straight onto dinner plates.

These carrots go with well with just about anything. I’ve cooked them alongside steak, roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and my personal favorite, pork chops. I make them often for just the two of us, but I’d stand proudly behind them at a dinner party, as well. They are best enjoyed while they are still hot, but trust me, they won’t last on your plate long enough to get cold.

Glazed Whole Carrots

Makes 2-3 side dish servings

10-12 whole carrots, the thinnest ones you can find
1 1/2 T unsalted butter
1 T dark brown sugar

Thoroughly scrub the carrots and chop off the stem end and the spindly root. If you can, avoid peeling the carrots. Heat a large flying pan over medium heat and add butter. Once the butter has melted and is bubbling, add the carrots. Cook for about 20 minutes, turning the carrots every few minutes so they cook on all sides. The carrots will begin to blister and char slightly.

Turn off the heat and add the brown sugar. Toss the carrots around in the sugar until they are evenly and lightly coated and the sugar has dissolved in the pan. Don’t keep them in the pan for too long at this point or the sugar may begin to burn and will give your carrots a bitter flavor. Remove carrots from the pan and place on a serving dish or directly onto dinner plates.

Serve immediately.

Summer produce is just the best, isn’t it Each week, I have to hem and haw and force myself not to buy everything I lay my eyes on. It’s so easy to literally have my eyes bigger than my stomach… or my weekly menu.

But squash is something I buy every week when it’s in season. Sometimes zucchini, sometimes yellow squash, mostly both. And most summer meals in our house, coincidentally, contain these delicious and prolific veggies, so I try to mix it up and try new methods to cook them. This one is one of my new favorites.

Adding a bit of parmesan and pepper to thin strips of squash turns them into long, skinny chips of a sort. To help with that long and skinniness, I use a mandoline, a tool that I resisted for years (why not just use a knife) but now adooooooooore.

And why not just use a knife Well, for not much money and not much drawer space, you can get a tool that makes treats like this one — and julienned carrots, and scalloped potatoes, and shredded cabbage — really, really easy to prepare. I like this one, but there are a whole bunch of them out there that would do the trick.

Once sliced, these squash just need a little lovin’ from one of my favorite pairs in the food universe: parmesan cheese and black pepper.

Once baked Magic! They make a great side for dinner, but would be a fun appetizer or party treat as well. Or just for sitting by yourself and enjoying some of summer’s bounty!

Peppered Parmesan Squash Strips

3-4 small yellow squash, about one pound
2/3 c grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp freshly grated black pepper
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside. Wash and pat dry the squash.

Use a mandoline or knife to thinly slice the squash into long, flat strips about 1/4″ thick. Lay the strips side-by-side on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese and black pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown.

Serve immediately.

With both colder weather and a bothersome chest cold arriving in the last couple of weeks, I’ve craved almost nothing but soup. I know many of you live in areas where it’s still a bit too balmy to day dream about tiny basins full of steaming soup, but bear with me. Your cooler weather will arrive soon enough, and when it does, you need to be ready to make this incredibly incredible soup featuring a vegetable almost as synonymous with autumn as king pumpkin: the butternut squash.

I won’t lie to you. Butternut squash is only something I’ve come to appreciate very, very recently. I don’t remember eating it much as a kid; we tended to favor summer squashes in my house. So when a friend brought me a bowl of butternut squash soup (in the worst days of my cold) I admit: I was a bit nervous. But after one spoonful, I became keenly aware that I may have been missing out on a vegetable that is practically given away at the farmers market, easy to store for long winters, and downright delicious.

But it doesn’t stop there. This soup is a medley of fall produce: carrots, potatoes, onions, and for fun, a couple of apples. Short of tossing some fallen leaves in there, it’s hard to get more autumnal than that.

This array of chopped produced is then simply tossed in a pot, simmered in chicken stock, and blended. I’ve steered away from blended soups in the past because I don’t have an immersion blender, but don’t worry if you also don’t have one. I ladled mine in batches into a regular, cheap-ass blender from Target and it worked swimmingly. A food processor would also work well. Once it’s blended, you’re just a few fall spices away from one awesome dinner.

Chock full of produce, creamy without any cream, and simply bursting with fall flavor, I positively insist you make some. Don’t think you like butternut squash Neither did I. Now I’m eating it for lunch every day for the rest of the week, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Butternut Squash Soup
Adapted from All Recipes & Monica B.

Makes about 18 cups, enough for 9 servings (leftovers, baby!)

2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 carrots, chopped
3 medium potatoes, cubed
2 tart apples, peeled, cored, & chopped
1/4 c butter
2 quarts chicken stock (or enough to cover vegetables in the pot)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
sour cream to garnish

Chop squash, onion, carrots, potatoes, and apples into pieces 1-2 inches in size. To peel the squash, chop off 1/2″ of the bottom and 1/2″ of the top. Use a vegetable peeler to peel away the skin, which may take several passes, until the pale skin has been removed. Then, stand the squash on its end and slice it down the middle, leaving two halves. Scoop out the seeds on each half before slicing the halves into strips and ultimately into cubes.

In a large pot (I use an 8-quart one), melt butter over medium heat. Add all chopped ingredients to the pot and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring regularly. Pour in the chicken stock, using enough to cover the vegetables. Increase heat to high until the mixture comes to a boil, then cover and reduce to medium. Allow to simmer for about 40 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Remove the pot from the heat and ladle out about 2 cups of stock and set aside. If you have an immersion blender, blend the mixture until it is smooth and creamy. If you don’t, ladle it in batches into a blender or food processor, making sure that you have a couple of good ladles full of liquid in each batch. Blend until smooth and pour into a second pot until the whole mixture has been blended. Add as much of the remaining broth as you like to reach your desired consistency (I used about a cup).

Add the seasonings to the pot and adjust to taste. I recommend starting with about half of all the measurements and adding more as desired. The measurements above reflect what I use and love.

Spoon one dollop of sour cream onto the top of each bowl just before serving. This soup makes fabulous leftovers and freezes well.

This is your next meal. Or part of it.

This is super fast. This has SIX ingredients. Four of them are already in your kitchen. If they aren’t, we need to talk about essentials, people.

And these are everywhere!

Zucchini is an amazing vegetable. Here, it’s in season from late April to early November. It plays well in dishes of most cuisines, roasts like a dream, sautés easily, and makes a mean one of these.

But this is my all-time favorite way to feature this versatile squash.

This recipe is one from home. It spells summer nights and open windows and father’s day dinner. I grew up eating this as a side dish, but I find it’s best when I have to share with no one. Crisp and just a bit salty on the outside, warm and smooth on the inside, these little guys are completely irresistible. If you’re  actually intending to serve them to other people, I suggest making a few extra slices… it’s fairly normal that half of them disappear before they make it to a serving plate.

Crisp Zucchini Medallions

1-2 zucchinis
1/2 c milk
1 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
oil

Wash and pat dry zucchinis. Slice medallions of zucchini no thinner than 1/4″ thick. Pour milk into a small, wide dish (I use a cereal bowl). In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dip each medallion in the milk, then dip into the flour mixture, ensuring that each side is thinly coated. As you work, add more flour & seasoning as needed (your flour will get really gummy).

Once all medallions are coated, drizzle enough oil into a frying pan to thinly coat the bottom and heat until oil glistens. Add zucchini to the pan forming a single layer. Fry for 4-5 minutes or until bottoms of medallions are golden brown. Gently flip each medallion with a fork and cook until both sides are golden brown. Remove from pan to a plate lined with napkins or paper towels. Continue until all zucchini is cooked, replenishing the oil in the frying pan as needed.

Serve immediately. That is, if there are any left to serve after you leave the kitchen.

Yes, those are beach umbrellas.

Yes, that’s a coffee table on a tenth-floor oceanfront balcony.

Yes, that’s homemade breakfast.

We just got back from a fabulous weekend at the beach, a weekend filled with sand and sun and all other manner of beach-y fun. But I also couldn’t resist the opportunity to utilize the full kitchen in our room. Unsure of what this little kitchen might keep in its cupboards, I packed, um, one or two essentials and tossed them in the car with my swimsuit and flip flops.

And to cook I didn’t really have any meals in mind, but I filled a cooler with a smattering of ingredients anyway and put them in the car along with my box-o-kitchen-gear.

It turned out that breakfast on our first morning there was a great time to cook (Brad sleeps in like a champ). Based on the ingredients I had, I found two tasty latke recipes, which sounded so good I decided to combine them. I love a good potato pancake, and adding zucchini (first of the season!) seemed like an excellent idea.  After I had set my heart on these little cakes of joy, I discovered one flaw in my plan: I had forgotten the box grater.

No grater! I know I unloaded it from the dishwasher, how did it not make it into the box!?! After maniacally opening every drawer and cupboard in the kitchen in search of cooking utensils (and finding only a spatula, a can opener, and a corkscrew), I tried to regain control. This was no big deal. Surely I could figure out how to fry some dang vegetables into a patty without the comfort and ease of my trusty grater.

Luckily I had not forgotten a big sharp knife. After much, much, much chopping, breakfast was near! Without long shreds of potato and zucchini, I was a little nervous about the patties holding together. How could these little chunks of vegetable adhere to one another strongly enough to become a latke But miracle of miracles! Eggs and flour came to the rescue (as usual), and with some careful, two-spatula flipping, these little pancakes came out golden-brown, crispy, and full of flavor.

I’ve enjoyed latkes before with a little sour cream, but I did not have any in my tiny arsenal of ingredients. I did have cream, though, and after a few minutes of vigorous whipping and a dash of salt, I had just the dollop I was looking for. Thank goodness I didn’t forget a whisk.

And then breakfast! Enjoyed in the warm May sunshine and a salty breeze.

And with one hell of a view.

Makeshift Zucchini Latkes & Savory Cream
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, both here and here

For the Latkes
1 1/2 c zucchini, finely chopped or grated
2 c potatoes, finely chopped or grated
3/4 c onion, finely chopped or grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 c flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp lemon juice
canola oil for frying

Slice zucchini in half length-wise and scoop out seeds with a spoon before chopping or grating. Finely chop or grate zucchini, potatoes, and onion and combine in a strainer. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can through the strainer. Pour vegetables into a large bowl and add garlic, egg, flour, salt, black pepper, and lemon juice. Stir until thoroughly combined.

In a large frying pan, add canola oil until the bottom is coated and heat over medium until oil glistens. Once oil is hot, carefully scoop a heaping tablespoon of the vegetable mixture into the pan and flatten with the back of the spoon. Use spoon to tuck stray pieces of potato or zucchini up against the latke if needed. Add three or four spoonfuls to your pan, depending on the size, to cook multiple latkes at once. Allow latke to cook for 2-3 minutes. Use a flat spatula to carefully lift latke from the pan. Then, have another spatula on hand to flip the latke onto, then returning it to the pan to allow the other side to cook. I found I had fewer tragedies using this method rather than flipping the latke with one spatula. Once both sides are golden brown and crisp, remove latkes to a plate lined with paper towels.

Serve hot with a dollop of savory cream (see below) for dipping.

For the Savory Cream

1/4 c heavy cream
dash of salt

Pour cream into a bowl and whisk/beat until cream has thickened to the point where it holds a soft peak. I found that returning the cream to the fridge every few minutes (mostly when I had latkes to flip) helped to keep the cream cold enough to hold shape.

Once cream has thickened, add just a little bit of salt to taste.

I’ve been making a lot of soup lately. I crave it when it gets cold, when it gets cloudy, or when I just want to eat the embodiment of warmth and comfort.

Do you know the story of Stone Soup An old folk tale that varies from culture to culture, the story centers around a traveler who arrives in a small village seeking food. At every door he is turned away as the villagers attempt to protect their meager pantries. The traveler then asks, quite simply for a stone and a kettle so that he might prepare a delicious soup.

Curious, the villagers slowly emerge from their homes and begin to offer small ingredients that will improve the soup: a bunch of carrots, an ear of corn, some grains of pepper. In no time at all, a hearty, filling soup feeds not only the traveler but the entire village, and the modest contribution of each villager yields an excellent meal for everyone.

We used to celebrate this tale of generosity at my childhood church once a year at a Stone Soup Sunday potluck, and to this day, veggie-filled meaty soups remind me of the story. And though this particular soup was not built with ingredients from my neighbors (and a rock in the bottom of the pot), it was still warm and comforting and everything I want soup to be.

Including days and days of warm-and-comforting-and-everything-I-want-soup-to-be leftovers. Hallelujah.

What is your favorite soup I’m looking for more to try…

Vegetable Beef Soup
Loosely based on this recipe from All Recipes

1 1/2 c carrots
1 1/2 c mushrooms
2 c celery
1 1/2 c green beans
1 1/2 c onion
4 c potatoes
3 cloves garlic
1 can corn, drained
1 lb chuck steak, chopped into bite-size chunks

1 T oil
2 T worchestershire sauce

1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tps ground mustard
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 c tomato paste
8 C beef broth
salt & pepper to taste
asiago cheese rind (optional)

Heat oil in a large pot, no smaller than 6 quarts. Add chopped chuck steak to pan and season lightly with salt & pepper. Add worchestershire sauce and cook until meat is browned. Add onions and garlic and saute until softened.

Add all remaining ingredients EXCEPT mushrooms and stir throughly. Cover and increase heat to bring to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and boil for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Add mushrooms and cheese rind (if using) and boil for 5 minutes more.

Remove from heat and let rest for 5 minutes before serving, removing the remaining rind and the bay leaves if you can find them. Serve with yummy bread!

I hate getting sick. Stuffy head and achy muscles and sore throat. No fun.

Less fun two weeks after seeing Contagion. No joke. Have you seen that movie Scary.

But as much as being sick makes me not want to cook, I crave soup like crazy when I have a cold.

And there’s nothing quite like homemade chicken noodle soup.

Sans chicken.

I don’t want to mislead you. This soup has lots of chicken stock, yes, but no chicken meat. Why Because I don’t like it in there. I don’t know why. Never have. My mom used to strain chicken noodle soup so that the little pinkish chicken pieces got caught in the strainer and I was left with warm, savory broth. Am I the only one?

So I’ve avoided getting chicken noodle soup at restaurants for years and picked around the meat in cans of it from the store. I actually don’t know what took me so long to come around to making it myself to be in complete control of its ingredients.

I’m glad I did. Because this. Oh, this. A soup of my dreams. Full of vegetables I like, noodles in whatever shape I want, and no. pinkish. chicken.

I won’t judge you if you do like chicken in your chicken noodle soup. Add it in there if you wish!

Here’s to hoping that next time I make this, I won’t have the plague.

(Chicken) Noodle Soup
Adapted from All Recipes

Makes about 8 one-cup servings, 4-5 servings if you serve larger portions

A Noodle Note: Every time, and I mean EVERY time, I make soup I always underestimate how swollen the noodles will become. I made this soup with two cups of cut spaghetti, which was fairly perfect for immediate consumption. As leftovers, however, there was almost no broth left. I think next time I will cut down to one cup, and I would encourage you to do the same if you like a soupy soup.

3 T butter
1 c onion
1 1/2 c celery
5 cloves garlic
1 c carrots
1 c peas
8 c chicken stock
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 T dried parsley
1 bay leaf
1-2 c cut spaghetti (or your favorite tiny pasta)

Dice onion & chop up celery, garlic, and carrots. In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and celery and sauté until onions soften. Add garlic, carrots, peas, chicken stock, marjoram, pepper, parsley, and bay leaf. Turn heat to high and cover. Once soup comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add cut spaghetti and simmer for 7-8 more minutes or until pasta is cooked through.

Remove from heat and let soup sit for 4-5 minutes so you don’t burn your mouth off.

Enjoy!

It’s Labor Day.

Both the unofficial end of summer and the unofficial start of my favorite season, it heralds new school years, last summer hoorahs, and whispers of the beautiful autumn to come.

I haven’t quite felt that first breath of fall though. Yes, fall squash and small pumpkins are beginning to appear at the farmers market and the sun is setting noticeably earlier, and the campus at Duke is crowded once more now that the full student body has returned. But it’s hot. And still quite sticky. And still quite green.

But do you know what I’m talking about That moment when you feel the spark of the season, any season really. I get it before the holiday season too, when something shifts either in nature or in me (or both, more likely), when I say yes, the season is changing. And also before the spring, a first warm day, watching naked brown trees burst into brilliant green or delicate blossoms seemingly overnight.

Any day now, I think fall will arrive for me. In the meantime, this dish is a fantastic way to celebrate late summer produce and puts a whole new spin on one of my favorite vegetables.

The Durham Farmers Market often features the recipes of local chefs on Saturday mornings, but for some reason I hardly ever find myself there at the right time. A couple weeks ago though, I arrived just as the cooking began, and her key ingredient Okra! The final product was dolled out in paper cups to the hungry crowd, and after two bites I knew I had to make some for myself.

This is really a great way to send off the summer featuring entirely local ingredients (well, minus the salt and pepper). Okra is in it’s prime, corn is still stacked in precarious heaps at the market every week, and I’ve stocked up on storage onions for the next few months.

Add to those veggies some locally raised bacon and fresh goat chèvre, and you’re good to go. Obviously you can buy these ingredients at the grocery store, but if you’ve been reading for a while, you’ve probably noticed that any meal where so many ingredients can be sourced locally is definitely a meal for me.

Though I know quite well the flavors of all of these ingredients on their own, this dish is unlike any I have ever tasted. It taste both fresh and hearty, light and rich, and it’s multitude of textures make for an intriguing eating experience all on their own.

I must confess, there was one thing about this dish that freaked me out a little bit: after cooking the bacon and removing it from the pan, you leave the grease in the pan. All of it. To be fair, it’s only the grease from two pieces of bacon, but it’s sort of been ingrained in me to always always always always pour off bacon grease.

But this southern dee-light makes use of the grease instead of adding oil for the sauté. And who am I to defy this ridiculously southern dish its due When in Rome, I suppose…

This dish is probably intended as a side, and it can easily be used as one. It also, however, makes quite an awesome meal for one.

In fact, I think I may treat myself to it again on this lovely day off. I had thought maybe I would go in to work for a couple of hours, but that might defeat the point of what Labor Day is supposed to celebrate. A day of reprieve to those who work hard in this country to hone their crafts, to provide myriad services, to teach our children, to build our roads, to enforce our laws, to grow our food, and countless other duties.

Happy Labor Day, fellow workers. I’m grateful for what you do. Enjoy your day off if you get one… this one’s for you!

Okra & Corn Sauté
Adapted slightly from Durham Spirits Co.

2 slices bacon
1/2 T unsalted butter
1/2 large white or yellow onion,diced
2 cups okra, sliced in half inch pieces
1 ear fresh corn, kernels cut from the cob
1/8 tsp black pepper
pinch of kosher salt
1/4 c chèvre, crumbled

Chop okra & onions, cut kernels from the corn cob and crumble chèvre so that all ingredients are ready to be added when needed. Over medium heat, cook bacon in a medium-sized frying pan until fat is rendered. Remove bacon to a cutting board and set aside. Leave bacon grease in the pan.

Add butter and onions and sauté until translucent. Add okra, salt, and pepper and sauté for 5-7 minutes. While okra is cooking, chop up bacon into pieces about 1/2 inch in size. Add corn kernels to the frying pan and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Pour mixture onto a serving plate and top with chopped bacon and crumbled chèvre. Let dish set for 2-3 minutes, then stir to incorporate the bacon and cheese. Serve immediately.

Serves 3-4 as a side, or 1 as a meal