A taste of North Carolina

During my first visit to North Carolina last week (our daughter is now a freshman at Duke), we were treated to a North Carolina feast as part of new student orientation. Rather than serving a standard catered dinner, Duke partnered with the Bon Appetit Management Company, a catering group that's a leader in sustainable and healthy food service, and I was delighted to see that the spread celebrated and showcased the region's local foods and producers. I especially enjoyed the cucumber, onion, and heirloom tomato salad; green bean salad with herb vinaigrette; grilled-in-husk corn on the cob; North Carolina melons; and strawberry shortcake with fresh North Carolina strawberries. (OK, the classic pulled pork was really good, too.)