Vegetable dinners were and still are popular in Louisiana. Because of the warm climate, we are used to eating delicious home-grown corn, summer squash, green beans and new potatoes, and sliced tomatoes almost all year. All types of peas and beans are enjoyed in Louisiana. Green-leafy vegetables, turnip greens, mustard greens, collards, and poke salad are on many tables throughout Louisiana. The green leafy vegetables may taste bitter to children.
Pot liquor is the water in which the vegetables are cooked.
The pot liquor is rich in vitamins. Louisiana's Cajuns, out of necessity, learned to make use of whatever foodstuffs were available. Cajun settlers were the first to grow rice, which was to become one of the mainstays of the state's economy. They used the cooked grain to supplement gumbo, fish and meat dishes, and for making jambalaya and boudin , favorite foods of the Cajun people. North Louisianians tend to eat cornbread dressing.