It's good for you

Over there at Mel's Diner...they're not cooking up any peas or lima beans or brussells sprouts. No. Fellow Tennessee expat blogger Mel, she don't like the vegetables.

Now me...I just don't get it. I love vegetables - I even have a great recipe for brussells sprouts (trim, drizzle with olive oil, cut up some garlic and some sundried tomatoes, maybe a little red bell pepper if you got it, season with a little salt and teeny sprinkling of oregano and steam gently til tender - this recipe converted me) But I try to be sympathetic. I after all, hate melons and have had to endure a lifetime of "Are you allergic?", "How can you not like melons?" and "Well, what about watermelon?" No, I don't know, no.

Anyway, I didn't post this to berate Mel for her vitamin deficient eating habits, but rather to describe the Vol-in-Law's long time friend and best man at our wedding - Craig's eating habits.

Pasty Craig from West Belfast hates vegetables, but unlike Mel, he won't even nod politely. He just won't eat 'em. He won't eat cooked veggies or raw veggies. Nothing green, nothing that grew, nothing that was gathered rather than hunted.

That was until he came over for our wedding in Tennessee. Then he discovered Southern vegetables. He liked the philosophy to cooking - if it swims or flies or walks or grew from the land, fry it - coat it in cornmeal and fry it. Or - boil it to mush and season it with bacon grease. He ate the fried okra and green beans and came back for more.