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Peaches, reported to have originated in China, stand out as a perfect fruit with their juiciness, aroma and sweet flavor. Including the fruit, a source of Vitamins A and C as well as potassium, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database, in any meal can add not only flavor but important nutrients to a dish.

While baked or fried peach pies remain popular recipes, making a simple, old-fashioned spoon bread with a couple of peaches creates a new and tasty breakfast or dinner side dish.

Here’s what you’ll need to prepare peach spoon bread:

2 peaches, peeled and cubed
½ cup of grits
½ cup of corn meal (medium ground)
1 egg beaten
1 tablespoon of butter
2 ½ cups of milk
¼ teaspoon of salt

Take a medium-sized saucepan and add the milk. Bring the milk to boiling point. Stir and add the grits and corn meal, mixing well.

With the grits used, instead of only corn meal, this spoon bread will have a firmer texture. If you prefer a looser texture, use 1 cup of corn meal and no grits.

Now add the butter, salt and beaten egg, mixing well. Stir in the cubed peaches. Pour the mixture into a greased casserole dish and bake at 400 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until the spoon bread turns golden brown.

Serve the peaches spoon bread hot with a traditional breakfast of egg, bacon or sausage and hash browns. Add butter on top or sprinkle with some brown sugar. You can serve the peach spoon bread with chicken, steak or fish, too.

If you’re eating solo and have plenty of peach spoon bread left over, refrigerate the rest and heat it up the next day. Just add a couple of tablespoons of milk on top and heat in the oven (on warm) for about 15 minutes. You can also heat leftovers in the microwave.

Tasty and easy to make, enjoy!

   – Bobbie Whitehead