Whenever I think about my North Carolinian roots, my thoughts turn to my grandmother Muddie who was known for her porgies and grits (which she loved for breakfast), caramel iced cakes, handmade rolls, fried okra and succotash, one of her favorite dinner vegetables that went with everything.

Muddie  made  her succotash with fresh corn, cream and lima beans. I distinctly remember her having a lot of butter and even white sugar in the recipe. Succotash can be a blend of many vegetables, and I like to mix mine with okra.

I have a standard rule about food in my house: Live food for live people. I believe that although GOD has equipped our bodies to handle a lot of the junk we put into our bellies, He really intended for us to flourish from eating live foods and a lot of fruits and vegetables.

If you believe the Christian account of creation, the Bible’s first chapter Genesis show Adam and Eve eating mostly fruits and nuts. It wasn’t until after The Flood that humans really got into eating a lot of meat. That’s why GOD made Noah build an ark so he could mate two of everything since all of the vegetation died during the floods.

Those thoughts in mind, I try to follow in my mother and grandmother’s steps and buy my produce from locally grown farmers instead of commercial supermarkets.

My succotash may have similar roots, but it also has fewer calories and less fat because I use rice milk instead of dairy, which is much healthier. The difference between her succotash and commercial succotash (as seen in this photograph by H4NUM4N) is that she used fresh corn kernels she cut by hand rather than using a can opener. I detest canned food because it seems really dead to me. I’m a little less squeamish about flash-frozen food.

Like my mother and grandmothers, I prefer everything fresh. In this recipe, I do make an exception and use frozen lima beans.

Succotash

2 cups frozen lima beans, defrosted and drained

2 cups fresh white corn, cut from husks

½ cup okra, sliced

1 red pepper, diced

1 large red onion, diced

2 vine ripe tomatoes, diced

¼ cup virgin olive oil

3 cloves crushed, garlic

3 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

Roux

3 tbsp honey

3 tbsp soy butter

1  1/2  tbsp unbleached flour

1  1/2  cups of rice or almond milk

• Melt butter in a pan.
• Mix in flour until it becomes a paste and slowly stir in milk.
• Reduce heat and stir until it becomes a creamy sauce.
• In a Dutch oven, heat olive oil on medium heat and sauté in this order: garlic, onions, peppers, corn, okra, lima beans and  tomatoes. While this is cooking down, make a  roux  and mix with the succotash. Let simmer until okra is soft, but not slimy. Serve over rice or couscous, either by itself or as a side dish.

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