The Laughing Cow – Post 2

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and The Laughing Cow.

We eat a lot vegetables in our house. In fact, I like to think that I cook a way above average amount of vegetables. Black beans, blackeyed peas, green beans, asparagus, butterbeans, corn, squash, carrots, tomatoes, okra, sweet potatoes, eggplant – all of these things are regular parts of our diet.

But.

I was born and raised in Mississippi. I spent the first three years of my married life in south Louisiana. And I now live in Alabama. And while we do eat healthily for the most part, I occasionally call upon my Southern cooking heritage when it comes to adding bacon and butter to our vegetables. So while I feel confident telling you that you could stop by our house on almost any night of the week and find several vegetables from which to choose, you should probably know in advance that you might not be eating them steamed and flavored with the teeniest bit of olive oil when you visit.

However, I think you’ll find that you’ll appreciate the temporary vacation from worries about your cholesterol when you experience that first taste of bacon fat in your peas.

Yes ma’am. Pass the cornbread. Please and thank you.

So just in case you’ve never experienced the joy of preparing and eating vegetables in the Deep South – I thought I’d offer a brief tutorial here today. You probably wouldn’t want to follow these rules all the time, but every once in awhile it’s good to kick up your soul food heels. And while it is not necessary for you to visit your cardiologist before implementing these methods in your own cooking, it is certainly recommended. As I always like to say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of really good butter.

Amen.

1) If there’s no form of pork product in your vegetable, you’re doing something wrong.

I grew up knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that pigs and vegetables are BFFs. They go together like peas and, well, ham hocks. And even when I cook vegetables that aren’t traditional Southern staple – like black beans – I like to fry a little bacon, remove it from the pan, and then use those bacon drippings to season my beans. Which leads us straight to tip #2…

2) A little bit of bacon makes every vegetable better.

Sprinkle some crumbled bacon on a cooked sweet potato. Or mix it up in some green beans with sugar and vinegar. Or stir it up with some eggplant, onion, garlic and butter. Or add it to your bread crumbs when you’re dredging green tomatoes. YOU CAN’T GO WRONG. And more importantly? Your life will never be the same.

3) Go big with real butter or go home.

Now contrary to what you might think, I’m not advocating that you use large quantities of butter when you cook vegetables. But I am advocating that you use real butter. Nothing from a tub. Nothing that “tastes like” butter. I’m talking about the real deal butter – the best thing that ever happened to baked sweet potatoes or fresh squash. I’d rather use a teaspoon of the real stuff than a tablespoon of the fake stuff. Let’s embrace the real-live butter. It’s the right thing to do.

So. There you have it. The three primary ways I like to take perfectly healthy foods and occasionally make them significantly less healthy. And I’m so grateful that you’ve joined me on this somewhat fat-laden portion of my culinary journey.

One more thing: if you’d like to win a $150 Visa gift card, leave a comment on this post that answers the following question:

Share a funny cooking-related story, video clip, picture, etc. in the comment section and you will be entered to win $150. Please keep your comments G-rated as any profanity or offensive content will automatically disqualify you from sweepstakes entry. You should also visit The Daily Laugh hub to read funny content each day and for weekly chances to win $100 at the “Play For Laughs” game. If you share something really funny, we may even use it in The Daily Laugh!

And don’t miss the other bloggers’ posts – you have 11 other chances to win each month!

Questions about the sweepstakes? Check out the official rules.

Happy Laughing, everybody!

This giveaway is now closed.

Share:
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • email

Comments

  1. I love squash casserole which is loaded with all sorts of fat and calorie containing ingredients.

  2. Oh, I LOVE cabbage, fried in bacon drippings with crumbled bacon and just a splash of vinegar and a pinch (or ten) of sugar! Thinking about it is making my mouth water right now!

  3. Cream Cheese!! I love it on everything, even vegetables!

  4. Green beans cooked with bacon and either oil or chicken broth.

  5. Sour cream, for sure. It goes with just about anything!

  6. Velveeta. On my broccoli. It was the only way my mom could get me to eat it as a child.

  7. I AM HUGE ABOUT WHEN IT COMES TO CHEESE. I COULD EAT CHEESE WITH PRACTICALLY ANYTHING I SWEAR! OH AND I CAN’T FORGET TO MENTION~ I LIKE KETCHUP ON MY EGGS. IT SOUNDS GROSS BUT YOU GOTTA TRY IT! kytah00@yahoo.com

  8. My guilty pleasure for veggies? Ranch.

    On my baked potato, on my green beans, on my carrots, on my celery, on my green peppers, on my (friend) onions…

    Truly, on just about everything but corn. :)

  9. CHEESE….on most anything! :)

  10. amymiller says:

    Breaded and fried squash, breaded and fried okra, breaded and fried potatoes, breaded and fried tomatoes (green only please)….are you noticing a trend???

  11. Cooked broccoli covered in melted velveeta cheese. Yummy.

  12. fried okra. amen.

  13. Janes Crazy Salt. everything tastes better with Janes. EVERYTHING.

  14. Bake them in a cake! I had some very delicious very carroty carrot cake at my cousins wedding last weekend. I turned to my other cousins who were eating slices from the chocolate pound cake tier, and said “y’all just have to try my carrot salad, it’s delicious!!”

  15. I agree- butter makes everything better. We also like a little Montreal Chicken seasoning on some grilled or sauteed squash, peppers and onions. Cooked in real butter, of course!

  16. We make all our butterbeans, field peas, etc. with bacon too. I can’t imagine what they would taste like without it! Squash, hasbrown and corn casseroles with lots of cheese are faves too!

  17. Cooked cauliflour. Then spread it with a mixture of mayo and mustard and pepper. Then sprinkle cheddar cheese on top. Fabu-losity

    Blanched asparagus, dry it. Spread the stalk with cream cheese, then wrap proscuitto around it. Mmmmmmm….mmm!!

    And I love my Mama’s fried green tomatoes, fried yellow squash.

  18. loaded baked potatoes—sour cream, cheese, bacon, green onions. the more, the merrier.

  19. Sallie Howell says:

    Pats of butter, velveeta, bacon grease, sour creme…a girl raised in the South knows it is the only way to eat your veggies

  20. I am with you on the bacon grease and butter and cheese. If I am making beans of any kind they have to have the bacon grease or they just don’t taste right. And I love some butter and cheese on my potatoes. Now, I can eat plain carrots or squash, but they are so much better with some butter and sugar on top:) Is it still a vegetable with sugar?

  21. Oh my. I love my veggies too! I love to “scallop” things–like zucchini, corn and tomatoes, meaning I add butter, cheese, and sour cream and then bake. And then (am I really admitting this?) I crumble on top some Ritz crackers… and drizzle with a little more butter. Ah, heaven. Yup, love me some veggies

  22. I definitely add butter to all of my veggies. If we are keepin’ it real here, if they are canned veggies, I drain most of the water out that they are packed in and then add butter. I don’t want the flavor diluted. That would be horrible!

  23. I put so many toppings on my salad that it’s quite a stretch to call it healthy.

  24. Basically anything with lots and lots of cheese is good for me! :-)

  25. treena banda says:

    Deep-fried zuchinni…yum, yum:)

  26. sweet potato casserole….that counts as veggie, right??

  27. Butter and cheese on top of almost every veggie…You cannot go wrong! Or, for things like sweet potatoes…I LOAD them up with brown sugar and, if I have them, candied pecans. Nothing beats cooking in the south.

  28. Lots of sour cream and butter on the baked potato and lots of brown sugar on the sweet potatoes.

  29. Cheese on it all!

  30. My neighbor cooks up fried zucchini for me fresh from her garden. It has fresh grated parmesan cheese grated on the top. I can eat it by the plateful. I just have to hide it from the kids if I want any!

  31. Kelly Campbell says:

    Gotta love the green beans with ham.

  32. Jessie C. says:

    Deep-fried sweet potatoes, yum!

  33. The only way I like sweet potatoes is in Sweet Potato Casserole (complete with brown sugar, butter, nuts….)

  34. It is not a vegetable without some cheese on top

  35. oooo — butter and bacon grease — I’m thinking about some fried corn!

  36. I love my Mom’s candied sweet potatoes! An entire box of brown sugar and about 1/2 a stick of butter to a 9 x 13 pan. Yum, yum!

  37. Ummm… I think I ALWAYS mess up any value any vegetable could give me. Squash-butter, salt, and pepper. Potatoes-skinless, with butter and cheese and salt or fried with salt (but then I use ketchup, so that’s another veggie, right?!). And I KNOW that’s not all, but I’m leaving it there…

  38. Tammy H. says:

    squash + butter = heaven

  39. I love some green beans with bacon, red wine vinegar, and brown sugar. I’m also a big fan of the fried potatoes, but when a recipe starts with shortening in an iron skillet, I’m not sure you can call it a vegetable anymore.

  40. Mary Helen says:

    Soft-fried sweet potatoes or cream cheese corn! Yum!!!

  41. Lynnetta says:

    Two words – BACON GREASE!

  42. Cheese sauce on coked vegetables, blue cheese dressing on raw ones. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM good.

  43. REAL butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and bacon on a baked potato is the best thing ever!

  44. Girl – a baked potato all the way is the best thing ever – butter, sour cream, bacon, cheese and chives. Yes, ma’am.

  45. Real bacon, real butter, cheese and full fat sour cream on my baked potatoes = YUM! I love some green beans with bacon as well, but I only do that once in a little while.

  46. Elaine Lund says:

    I have a simple guilty pleasure: butter and salt on corn on the cob and green beans. All other veggies I like plain including baked potato.

  47. karen h. says:

    butta, butta, butta!!!!!!!!!!

  48. All things fried! When I was a little girl, some nights my mom would fry whatever vegetables we had.. and that was dinner!

  49. How about jalapeno’s with loads of cheeze on top…

  50. My theory is eating a veggie cooked in grease or fat is still better than no veggie at all! I’m also a fan of dipping. Butter, cheese, ranch, sour cream…whatever!

  51. I LOVE cheese on most vegetables… and BUTTER. I’m trying really hard to stay away from bacon fat, but it is oh so yummy!

  52. I love baked sweet potatoes with butter and brown sugar on top! Also a big fan of the green bean casserole – or any vegetable casserole, really. ;)

  53. It’s all about the butter. Real butter. I CAN believe it’s not butter, so stay away from my vegetables. Butter, salt and pepper make everything yummy!

  54. I truly like veggies without butter, but cheese, or a loaded potatoe isn’t too bad!

  55. Any vegetable is better with cheese on it!

  56. Amy Martin says:

    cheese on anything! :)

  57. Candied sweet potatoes – lots of butter (real butter) – lots of sugar!

  58. “Fake” green bean bundles which includes cooking green beans with butter, brown sugar, and bacon.

  59. I do cheese on my broccoli and asparagus. And I love fried okra!

  60. I’m really not a veggie fan if truth be told, but I love a fresh baby greens salad with home-grown tomatoes, but I do tend to ruin the thing with cheese, bacon, crutons and some truly creamy dressing!

  61. Cheese makes everything better! We’re not big veggie eaters, so a little (or a lot) of cheese helps!

  62. Shonda Reneau says:

    Butter! Butter! Butter! All veggies taste better with Butter! And cheese….and bacon…and salt and pepper!

  63. I love corn casserole. There is a veggie in there .. somewhere, among the sour cream, butter, sugar, etc. SO good … AND it’s a veggie!

  64. My daughter thinks sour cream is a food group!

  65. Hands down, it’s cheese and butter. On any and every veggie. There’s not one veggie that doesn’t taste better with one of the two.

  66. Put me down for bacon grease in the green beans! And the pinto beans too, while we’re at it.. Mmmmmmm.

  67. gosh, I was raised and still live in South Louisiana…and I’m guilty of all you’ve spoken of….tons of cheese, bacon, REAL butter, and sour cream! It all makes the veggies taste so much better.
    what can I say? it’s why “health” is not a real priority around here….we’d have to give all that stuff up.

  68. CHEESE!!!! Give me more CHEESE!!

  69. Stephanie says:

    I love some fried okra.

  70. Jennifer says:

    Deep fried and served with ranch.

  71. As long as the pan starts with frying bacon, the veggies are perfect!!

  72. Fried green tomatoes!

  73. I like the butter and the cheese.

  74. Butter and cheese definitely make most veggies even better at our house! Or, for those which need a little different treatment, a nice douse of olive oil and a little garlic do the trick. MMM!

  75. any vegetable tastes better fried!

  76. marianne says:

    Oh yeah…butter and ranch on the baked potato. It’s almost soupy by the time I finish doctoring it up!

  77. My husband loves brussel sprouts… and I do too if they’re covered in enough butter to drowned a cat in!

  78. I enjoy my brocolli baked in a combination of cream of chicken soup, rice and cheese, also known as the most delicious casserole ever.

  79. sweet potato souffle with plenty of butter and marshmallows.

  80. Ranch. Ranch dressing on everything!

  81. Cheese, cheese, and more CHEESE!

  82. Mmmm..I make an old family recipe for corn pudding that is truly a heart attack on a plate. Jiffy corn muffin mix, sour cream, creamed corn, fresh corn, an egg, and TWO sticks of butter. I made it for a work potluck and had three coworkers’ wives call me to ask for the recipe!

  83. From a sister southerner… frying your veggies is not the healthiest thing.. but fried okra, fried squash… yummmy.

  84. Butter and a BOTTLE of Ranch slathered all over my baked potatoe! That’s the way I eat em! :)

  85. Casey A. says:

    Cheese is my friend.

  86. Bacon in the butterbeans! I put a couple cups of frozen baby lima beans in a pot, cover them with water, add 2 beef bullion cubes, then add a piece or two of fried bacon and it’s grease. Mmmmm mmmm

  87. Cheese, definitely cheese. Although sometimes a good drizzling of olive oil with a sprinkling of salt is just heavenly. But cheese is always my first choice.

  88. Ok, since you said it’s safe here to share:

    1/2 cup of cheese on my broccoli
    Saute’ by green beans in bacon grease and add bacon
    And put butter, sour cream and bacon on baked potato

    Oooh, I’m bad – that looks worse when you write it down.

    :-D

  89. We have ranch with just about every veggie except green beans. Green beans get bacon!

  90. OK, I admit it, I LOVE cheese on just about any vegetable I can put it on!!!! Veggies just sometimes need that extra help in the taste department! :P

    Tara
    giveawayblogs at gmail dot com

  91. Crystal Labor says:

    my new favorite is sweet potato fries.. from costco! yum!

  92. baked sweet potato fries dipped in a mixture of mayo, garlic and lemon juice…yum

  93. Ingrien Schaefer says:

    loads of sour cream on my potato.

  94. We use green tomato ‘ketchup’ on brown beans. We can it ourselves–it has green tomatoes, cabbage, green peppers, vinegar, and sugar in it. And it is divine. It’s more like a sweet pickle relish, but my Grannie calls it ketchup, so we do too.

  95. Ranch Dip and LOTS of it!
    mjf926@gmail.com

  96. FRY IT!

  97. Blue Girl says:

    Email: bluegirl1423@gmail.com

    Comment: I really enjoy sauteeing them with soy or teryaki sauce

  98. My favorite guilty veggie pleasure would have to be green bean casserole, with all the canned fakness of the cream of mushroom and the fried onions, but oh my – so yummy!

  99. I love anything in extra butter

  100. tweeted!
    @melindajoy926