Bring a Dish: Vegetarian Potluck at Yokna Bottoms Farm

Come out for a Vegetarian Potluck at Yokna Bottoms Farm on Wednesday, and bring a vegan or vegetarian dish. Drinks are an acceptable substitute for anyone who can’t bring a food dish.
A variety of delicious main dishes, sides and desserts can always be found at the dinner, according to Betsy Chapman, marketing and communications director for Yokna Bottoms Farm.
Past recipes have included maple-roasted sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts, vegan pumpkin bread and vegan chocolate chip cookies, vegan raw pumpkin cheesecake and salads.
“At the last one, the farm did a citrus chipotle coleslaw, with cabbage and tri-color carrots from the farm,” Chapman said. The crowd fluctuates between 15 and 30 people at the events, from month to month.


This month’s potluck will feature a national speaker and demonstrations on fermented foods, a growing trend nationwide. You probably eat fermented foods every day, even if the terminology doesn’t immediately connect with those foods.
Sauerkraut is an example of fermented food, as are yogurt and pickles, along with miso and tempeh, a popular food with lots of health benefits, Chapman said. The traveling exhibit is meant to alleviate fear that some people have about making their own food at home.
“Once you learn how, fermenting your own foods can be easy,” she said. “The fear of doing it wrong holds people up.”
Tara Whitsitt, from Fermentation on Wheels, will provide the discussion and demonstration at 6 p.m., and dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. The traveling bus exhibit is part of the Fermentation Across the Nation project, a traveling airstream trailer with full kitchen.
Directions to the farm are available at the Facebook event page.
The potluck is a monthly event, and again this time around it will feature a lecture, as part of the Gaining Grounds speaker series. The hosts for the event are Oxford Community Vegetarians and the Hill Country Chapter of Gaining Ground Sustainability Institute of Mississippi.
The farm is one of several area venues where the groups host potlucks each month. The event is free and open to the public.