14 Summer Foods Southerners Look Forward to All Year

I've heard rumor some northern states claim fame for the best tomatoes in all the land, but Southern tomatoes have no equal. Rich, juicy, and bursting with bright flavor, the perfect specimen of Southern summer food is the tomato. Most people, if we're being honest, just sprinkle on salt and pepper and eat the slices with a fork. Others reserve their ruby red rounds for a sandwich like the ones below. 

Try These:

• Fried Green Tomato Sandwich
• Tomato Avocado Sandwich
• Kansas Tomato Sandwich

Don't be fooled by out-of-season okra. This finger-shaped plant is only good if it's been blasted by the heat of a summer sun. While the most Southern preparation is tossed in cornmeal batter and deep fried, don't turn your nose up at the high-temp roasted version. It's so good I eat the pieces like candy.

Try These:

• Roasted Okra
• Southern Style Fried Okra
• Okra Patties

Watermelon fields are plentiful down here, where the emerald green orbs bask in the summer days and sticky humidity. When they're ripe and juicy, there have been known to be family fights over who gets the first and the last slices. You can eat watermelon plain, but if you want to give it a bit more respect, try it in a salad with some salty accoutrements. The salt really draws out the fruit's sweetness and makes it ultra refreshing in each bite.

Try These:

• Watermelon and Tomato Salad
• Watermelon Preserves
• Watermelon and Feta Salad

"Don't go picking blackberries without boots." That's the only rule my family had about their backyard garden. Why the foot cover? Snakes love blackberry bushes — but Southerners love them more. In cobblers, homemade lemonades, pickled salad toppers, and more.

Try These:

• Juanita's Blackberry Dumplings
• Peach and Blackberry Cobbler
• Brandy's Blackberry Cobbler

A Vidalia onion is a type of sweet onion that loves being nestled in the sweet soils of south Georgia. Unlike traditional white or yellow onions, the Vidalia onion has a characteristic sweet flavor that grows more prominent with heat. That's why Southerners often grill or roast these seasonal bulbs. Or do as my great-grandfather did and just munch on them like they're apples.

Try These:

• Roasted Vidalia Onions
• Grilled Vidalia Onions
• Flowering Vidalia Onion

You can probably find green tomatoes on menus year round, but the best ones come in the summer, just as the vines are starting to grow heavy with their crop. Pluck the tomatoes early and they're meaty, sour, and a bit sweet. Coat them and fry them. It's the only way. A spicy remoulade isn't required, but don't be surprised if you get some looks without it.

Try These:

• Best Fried Green Tomatoes
• Easy Southern Fried Green Tomatoes
• Spicy Fried Green Tomatoes

Zucchini and summer squash are plentiful everywhere in the summer. That's one of the best traits of these vine plants. They'll grow just about anywhere. But in the South, they grow so well (and so quickly), we've invented whole new categories of ways to eat them, from zucchini quick breads to fried squash puffs.

Try These:

• Southern Baked Yellow Squash
• Cheesy Squash and Zucchini Casserole
• Garlicky Summer Squash and Fresh Corn

We measure the days of the week by how much the corn has grown. You can almost see it grow with your own eyes. So when the stalks are stripped and the ears are plump and juicy, take advantage of the most delicious summer corn with these recipes.

Try These:

• Chef John's Succotash
• Dave's Low Country Boil
• Corn on the Grill

Many Southerners make a seasonal trek to the Gulf or Atlantic coastlines in search of relaxation, sun, and seafood. As boats bring in their hauls every day, you likely will find tourists standing at the dock's edge offering to buy their freshest catch. Shrimp is especially sweet in the summer, when the petite crustaceans can be cooked and eaten in minutes, or cooked and chilled for a refreshing dinner or snack later. 

Try These:

• Old Charleston Style Shrimp and Grits
• Fresh Shrimp Boil
• Cajun Shrimp Boil
• Frogmore Stew

Georgia claims the fruit as theirs, but lots of Southern states grow hefty harvests and believe their stone fruits to be the best. Whether from Georgia or neighboring Alabama or South Carolina, peaches are welcome for every meal on Southern days. Cobbler is a given, of course, but dice some up over oatmeal or pickle some slices to preserve a taste of summer for later.

Try These:

• Fresh Southern Peach Cobbler
• Southern Peach Shortcake
• Nana's Southern Pickled Peaches

Sandwiches aren't the only vessel for enjoying summer tomatoes. In fact, there are very few ways a Southerner won't eat a tomato in the summer. When the tomatoes are really coming off the vine hot and heavy, innovative Southern cooks have to find new ways to eat them before they turn mealy. Enter tomato gravy and the dishes below.

Try These:

• Fresh Tomato Pie
• Okra with Tomatoes
• Baked Tomato Slices

Much like zucchini and summer squash, a garden full of cucumbers is the gift that keeps on giving. But the great news for people who are barely handling the heat is that cucumbers are ultra refreshing, so if you can dream up a way to eat a cucumber, odds are it will be delicious.

Try These:

• Nina's Cucumber Salad
• Marinated Cucumber, Onion, and Tomato Salad
• Cucumber Slices with Dill

You don't have to wait for the middle-of-the-calendar months to enjoy an icebox cake, but if you do, the nostalgic dessert will repay you in kind with a rich, decadent, and refreshing bite. Icebox cakes, unlike many other types of cakes, require refrigeration, but that's lucky for you as it can provide a bit of a cooling off after a fresh and filling meal.

Try These:

• Easy Chocolate Icebox Cake
• Strawberry Icebox Cake
• Lemon Ice-Box Cake II

While many people serve banana pudding year round, you're likely to find this classic dessert on Southern menus and at potlucks only in the summer. Why's that? Honestly, we don't know. But when the temps start rising, it's time for a heaping scoop (or two) of banana pudding. Your grandmother's, preferably. 

Try These:

• The Best Banana Pudding
• Southern-Style Baked Banana Pudding
• Peanut Butter and Banana Pudding Pie