Jackson Free Press

No, "healthy southern" is not an oxymoron. Many of us act as if it is: refusing to give up a daily intake of the southern food we grew up eating—made (or bastardized) from recipes passed down from generation to generation, and often created out of the worst parts of the pig and chicken. Not to mention, many of the ingredients our parents and grandparents used to make the dishes we love have changed. Many, such as any infused with trans-fats and MSG, are worse for our health now than when we were growing up.

That means that we all need Matt and Ted Lee to help us hold on to the delights of southern dining, while not keeling over from a heart attack before we're 50 (or 30, considering the hardened arteries in young people, thanks to fast food and processed foods).

Paula Deen—no rabbit-food muncher herself—called the Lee Bros. "Lewis and Clark of southern cuisine." And they are explorers, finding the ingredients we love in the food that is killing us, and reworking them into delightful dishes we don't have to be scared to eat regularly.

The James Beard award winners, originally from Charleston, S.C., will be at Lemuria Books Monday, Nov. 16, at 5 p.m. to sign their latest cookbook, "Simple Fresh Southern: Knockout Dishes with Down-Home Flavor." And I'm thrilled to see that my new copy has no small number of purely vegetarian dishes.

Imagine these: Collard Greens with Poblano Chiles and Chorizo; Mushroom and Okra Purloo; Field Pea Salad with Gingered Beets and Lemon; Pimento-Cheese Potato Gratin. And if you do meat, try the Caesar Salad with Catfish "Croutons" or the Shrimp and Deviled-Egg Salad Rolls.

You meat-lovers and us vegetarians alike can meet in the middle to have dessert. Cornmeal Drop-Biscuit Peach Cobbler, anyone?

You can follow the Lee Bros on Twitter @theleebros. See http://www.simplefreshsouthern.com for cooking videos, recipes and more.