Help us celebrate National Native American Heritage Month by getting to know LaHoma Roberts!

LaHoma Roberts is Mississippi Choctaw and Oklahoma Choctaw. LaHoma works at Absentee Shawnee and shared the ways she incorporates vegetables into her meals.

Q: What are some vegetables used in Choctaw cooking?  

A: We usually cook hominy, usually that’s the main course that we serve for all of our birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, funerals and it’s cooked with chicken. A lot of cornbread, biscuits that are served with it. That is the main course. As far as vegetables, I guess the corn of it.  

Q: What is your favorite way to incorporate beans and squash into a recipe? 

A: I love squash, I like to sauté it or bread it and fry it or sometimes I put it in my soups.  

Q: When you make it into a soup is it just vegetables or some type of protein?  

A: I usually put chicken, ground beef, or stew meat in it when I make it and corn soup I cook it a lot for the holidays. Usually, when I make regular soup I use corn, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, onions.  

Q: What about beans? Do you use beans often?  

A: When I make my taco soup I use beans; black beans, navy beans and pinto beans. 

Q: Do you put them all in one? 

A: One