Southern Charm

I hate a lot of things about the South — racism, poverty, stupid white trash people at Wal-Mart with no shoes and too many babies. But there's so much more to love — warm temperatures all winter, Southern accents, mint juleps, fans on the porch, polite strangers, and well, the food.

Tonight's local fare was about as Southern as it gets (sans the fried chicken and barbecue of course). For starters, I had a heaping portion of purple hull peas:


At the start of my local eating project, my Granny gave me several freezer bags of peas that she froze last season. In case you don't know, purple hull peas taste and look similar to black-eyed peas.

On the side, I steamed kale and turnips from the farmer's market:


And I baked a sweet potato (also from Granny) and topped it with Farm Soy yogurt and onions from the farmer's market:


Here's the whole plate:


For lunch, I made Local Tomato-Basil Rice Soup:


I used a jar of local tomatoes that Granny canned last season and pureed them with about four giant basil leaves (if using a smaller leaf, I'd suggest using five or six) and some garlic. Then, I added brown Riceland rice (grown in the Southern region). Not pictured is the salad I had on the side. I figure ya'll are tired of looking at my salad pictures.

By the way, I've been tagged by the lovely Romina to name five things about myself. It'll be my third time doing this, so hopefully, I can think of some new stuff.

1. As much as I love the food and culture of the South now, I used to despise it. As a young child, I thought growing up in Arkansas made me a hick, and I so wished I'd been born somewhere cool like California or New York. I got rid of my accent at a very early age. Now I let it slip through sometimes though.

2. I use Arbonne cosmetics and Lush bath and face products. I'm sooo in love with Lush, and Memphis has one of the few stores nationwide. All Arbonne products are vegan and most Lush ones are. The ones that aren't contain honey and are clearly marked.

3. My dad just built me a new computer desk, completely from scratch and all by himself! I'm sitting at it right now, and it's beautiful. It looks like something you'd buy in a furniture store, but it's way better because it was made with love!

4. I'm kind of a bad vegan when I eat out at restaurants. Not always, but if I'm somewhere where the options are slim, I'm willing to overlook margarine. Also, I never ask if veggie items are cooked in the same grease/pan/grill as the meat items. Honestly, I don't want to know. And I think being too anal about these things make veganism unappealing and unattainable for any non-vegans I may be dining with. My goal is to change everyone!

5. I work out at the gym at least 4 times a week. Some nights, I do spinning classes. Other nights, it's yoga or Latin dance class. Tonight, it was boxing. I can do a mean knockout punch.

And I'm tagging:
Kate at The Federal Vegan
Marisa at The True and Tall Tales of My Fantastic and Brilliant Life
Jessy at Happy Vegan Face