Southeast Texas Italian salad
The first time I saw the phrase, “Wop salad,” I did a double-take. I was reading Texas newspaper articles from the 1950s, and in several of the pieces people stated…
Side dish recipes
Smoky savory collard greens
One cold January day, I asked my brother if he’d enjoyed black-eyed peas and greens for the New Year. He said that he hadn’t yet, but there was still plenty…
Texas caviar
Back when I first lived in New York, finding black-eyed peas was a challenge. While I do enjoy them year-round, it was around New Year’s Day that I became most…
Fancy green bean casserole
Earlier this year, I went to a Mexican restaurant that had fried green beans on the menu. The crisp coating was sprinkled with smoky red chiles, and the combination of…
Cucumber and tomato salad
On a late July weekend in the Hill Country, my friends and I prepared a group meal. We shared the cooking duties, with one at the grill, one making dessert,…
Smoky macaroni and cheese
When I pulled up to the barbecue cart, I was dismayed to see it shuttered. The posted hours had assured me that it would be open through the afternoon but…
Fried green tomatoes
The first time I encountered fried green tomatoes was via the film of the same name. I had never heard of the dish and at first thought it was a…
German potato salad, Dallas style
Back in June 1969, the Dallas Morning News featured a German potato salad from a restaurant on Lovers Lane called The Rib. It was a barbecue place that opened in…
Jalapeño cheese grits
I did not grow up in a grit-eating family. I’d beg and beg my mother to make grits, but she’d always say, “We don’t eat grits in this family. Now…
Borracho black-eyed peas
Every December, I begin to think of new ways to prepare my pot of black-eyed peas. For the past few years, the phrase “borracho black-eyed peas” had been running through…