Southern Poverty Law Center

As a token of our appreciation for you, please enjoy a collection of our favorite recipes, submitted and hand-picked by our very own SPLC staff.

The joy of sharing food and festivities has the power to unite us all, especially in uncertain and perilous times.

We hope you will find peace and community while celebrating this season, and maybe even discover a new staple dish for your family’s spread.

Sweet Potato Pie

Prep Time: 1.5 hrs | Cook Time: 50 mins | Yield: 12-inch pie

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups boiled sweet potatoes, peeled, mashed
3 eggs, separated (room temperature)
4 tbsp. butter, softened (room temperature)
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar (may use less, depending on desired sweetness)
Pinch salt
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Few drops vanilla
Prepared pie crust

Directions:

- Peel and cube sweet potatoes – then boil until cooked, about 15 minutes.
- Put sweet potatoes through sieve. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Cream butter and sugar in large mixing bowl then whisk in egg yolks, salt, and flavorings.
- Slowly add milk and mix until well blended.
- Fold in mashed sweet potatoes.
- Beat egg whites until peaks are soft and rounded, and fold into the butter sugar mixture.
- Pour into pie shell and bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake an additional 25-30 minutes (45-50 minutes total baking time).

Colombian Sancocho De Gallina

Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 1 hour 10 mins | Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 large whole chicken
12 cups of chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
2-3 ears of corn (cobs cut into thirds)
2 green plantains (cut and halved horizontally)
6 medium potatoes (halved)
1 pound yuca (cut into large chunks)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup aliños blend (onions, garlic, red bell pepper, cumin, and Goya Sazon con Azafran seasoning packet, or just Goya packet alone)
1 tsp. tomillo (thyme)
1 tsp. oregano
*Optional Sides: Aji, white rice, simple chopped salad, fresh sliced avocado, or just a banana!

Directions:

- In a large pot, place the chicken, corn, aliños, salt and green plantain.
- Add the broth and bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 35-40 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and yuca and continue cooking for 30 more minutes or until the yuca and potatoes are tender. Add the cilantro.
- Adjust the seasoning to taste. Serve in large soup bowls, evenly distributing pieces of chicken, corn, yuca, and plantain, along with optional sides on a plate. Buen provecho!

Author’s note: My mom’s family lives in Cali, Valle del Cauca, a bustling metropolis surrounded by dense jungle and mountains. I grew up hearing about how my grandmother used to kill her own chickens to make the freshest sancocho in the neighborhood and how she would feed anyone who stopped by the house after smelling it simmering throughout the day. Beyond being a delicious and accessible comfort food, sancocho is all about community.

A pot of hearty chicken adobo next to a cup of steamed white rice

Filipino Chicken Adobo

Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 50 mins | Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 bone-in chicken thighs with skin (about 1.5 lbs.)
8-10 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly smashed
2/3 cup vinegar*
2/3 cup light soy sauce*
1/3 cup or more water
1 to 2 tbsp. brown sugar*
1 tsp. black peppercorns
3-4 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil or your frying oil of choice
Optional: Half an onion, diced or sliced into strips. Serve with steamed white rice.
*Soy sauce provides plenty of salt, so adjust your seasoning to taste (We often skip the salt altogether). This recipe can be made with any vinegar you like. If you’re using something like apple cider or cane vinegar, you might want to use a little less sugar. For those who want to stick with Filipino brands, try Datu Puti.

Directions:

- Season chicken with salt and pepper.
- In a Dutch oven or sauté pan with lid, heat a few tablespoons of oil to medium-high. When oil starts to shimmer, lay chicken skin side down and lightly brown, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Turn chicken over and add garlic (and onions if you’re using them). Brown for another minute.
- Add vinegar, soy sauce and sugar. Add enough water to ensure chicken is nearly covered in liquid (you might not need any). Add peppercorns and bay leaves.
- When it begins to simmer, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 20-25 minutes, then turn chicken pieces and let simmer for another 20-25 minutes covered. The sauce won’t thicken much.
- Discard bay leaves before serving.
- To serve, spoon the sauce over the rice and chicken. The peppercorns and garlic will have softened, and you can eat those too.

Author’s note: Spanish colonists didn’t bring adobo to the Philippines, but they did give it the name we know it by today, likening the dish to the vinegar-based marinades characteristic of adobo on the Iberian Peninsula. Filipino adobo uses plenty of vinegar, but that’s really where the similarities end. This version is pretty much how my mom makes it. She’s a native of Singapore and learned from my paternal grandmother.

Spicy Cheddar Cornbread Pudding

Prep Time: 30 mins | Cook Time: 1 hour | Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

4 ears fresh corn shucked (or 16 oz frozen corn, defrosted and drained)
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tbsp. baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 extra large eggs
2 cloves garlic grated or minced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 15 oz cans creamed corn
2 cups grated Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar
1 cup grated Cabot Pepper Jack
6 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions:

- Heat the oven to 400ºF and set a rack in the middle. Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish or ovenproof ceramic baker.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the corn and cook until the kernels are just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and allow to cool for 10 minutes, then cut the kernels off using a sharp knife.
- Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and kosher salt in a large bowl. Add the eggs, garlic, oil, sour cream and butter to a medium bowl and whisk until combined.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture, along with the creamed corn, fresh corn kernels, all but 1/2 cup of the Seriously Sharp Cheddar, all of the Pepper Jack, and the scallions. Gently stir the batter together until there are no lumps or streaks of flour, but be careful not to over-mix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/2 cup of grated cheddar.
- Bake until the top is golden brown and the center is still slightly jiggly, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Braised Collard Greens

Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 2 hrs | Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 bunch collard greens (about 1 lb.), washed and chopped in 1 in. sections. Discard stems.
1 small sweet onion, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth or water
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. Cayenne pepper
Kosher salt, black pepper

Optional: 3 strips bacon, finely chopped.

Directions:

- Thoroughly wash collard greens to remove all traces of dirt. Then chop into 1 in. sections.
- Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet with high sides. Sautee chopped garlic and onions until translucent. If you’re using bacon, cook the chopped bacon first, then add onion and garlic.
- Add greens and wilt until slightly tender.
- Add liquid of choice, stir in Cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste*, and bring the liquid to a simmer, simmer with the lid on for approximately 30 minutes. *If using water, more salt, pepper, garlic and Cayenne may be necessary.
- Stir in cider vinegar and sugar, reduce head to med-low and cook with lid on for 1 hour or until greens are tender.