Soybean Salad

Name: Soybean Salad
Yield: serves 4
Ingredients: 2 medium cucumbers, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices; 1 small onion, quartered and sliced; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 cup cooked shelled edamame (soybeans); 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 2 tablespoons cottonseed or vegetable oil; 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil; 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted; 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

December 9, 2011

In 2009 the USDA declared seventy-nine of Mississippi’s eighty-two counties disaster areas due to excessive rain in spring and fall and a drought in the summer. It rained more than fifteen inches in May when farmers were trying to plant their crops. Then in the busy harvest months, a deluge of eight inches in September, followed by fourteen and a half inches in October. It was one of the worst yields on record. My cousin Michael Thompson has the right temperament to be a farmer. He is unflappable in the face of natural disaster and focuses on doing everything he can to foster a good soybean yield each season. “To do what I love on land that means so much to our family, it’s home . . .” As he says this his voice trails off dreamily.

Recipe notes

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