my meal planning has gotten super dry since switching up my diet to cut out pork and beef. with my new diet in mind, my big goal this summer is to cook more.
i was super excited to partner with the non-profit organization soul food sessions on this post to help me cook the perfect dinner for a good cause.
soul food sessions
soul food sessions has a bomb mission. they were started in 2017 to break stereotypes and enhance opportunities for chefs of color. the organization offers dining experiences that open up the conversation about inequities in the culinary field.
give me a good meal and deep conversations any day.
i’m hype for soul food sessions’ work to not only create better opportunities for people of color, but also the creative ways they’re spreading awareness. for example, they’re dropping a five episode podcast soon hosted by new york times bestselling author gina neely.
they’ve also created a dope dinner series called the table is set: a four city tour served with a coke that’s landing in washington, dc on july 26th thanks to a partnership with coca-cola consolidated. the best part is all proceeds from the dinner will provide scholarships for students of color studying culinary arts. washington, dc is the second stop on the tour, and you can grab tickets here.
cooking the perfect dinner for a cause
in honor of the upcoming event, i gave this crispy trout with five-pea succotash a try. i was intrigued by some of the more exotic ingredients, like sea island red peas, but kept it simple with black eyed peas as the base for my succotash.
after shopping at my local harris teeter, i got to work. the recipe has a pretty short prep time, mostly spent cutting peppers and onions. plus, my trout fillets were thin, so the entire meal only took about an hour to prepare.
after sautéing the peppers and onions in grape seed oil, i added the fresh black-eyed peas. let me be honest — i’d never even seen fresh black-eyed peas, let alone cooked them. they took much longer to cook than i thought, so i ended up adding some water and a lid to the pan to get some steam going. if you don’t want to go through this process no worries. just use canned beans instead.
the fresh beans have a great flavor though, and i kept a little crunch which you don’t get with canned beans. next up was the fish. i oiled a skillet with olive oil and seared it on both sides for a few minutes. trout is a delicate fish, and it doesn’t take long to cook.
like most black folks from the south, fish and grits is one of my family’s staple meals. this trout recipe is a nod to my roots, but with a nice twist.
i paired my dinner with a classic coca-cola to round out the heat and sweetness of the succotash.
join me to celebrate and support diversity in the food industry at soul food sessions’ dinner series, the table is set: a four city tour served with a coke on july 26th at 6 pm at mess hall in washington, dc. what better way to spend the evening than eating good food for a good cause?