Truck-stop/road/down-home foods

[Ali]

I'm currently in the process of planning an upscale road/down-home foods menu. I've got three courses and am currently thinking I need a fourth.

The current menu:
Appetizer: biscuits with rosemary-thyme cream gravy with vegetarian sausage
Main: crab/tuna cake burger with sweet potato fries and a mint/basil aioli
Dessert: mini citrus-apple pies with ginger-cinnamon whipped cream

There's a fish-eating vegetarian present, so something like a hearty chili is out of the question - I cannot, for reasons completely unknown to me, bring myself to make a vegetarian chili. Moreover, due to the current menu, I'm also looking for something less heavy or at least less starchy - a salad was thought of, but what is a down-home salad, and can I find the ingredients in the dead of winter?

Anyway, can anyone please help? Is there something quintessentially down-home that I'm forgetting and that would work here?

Thanks in advance!

[Fuser]

I'd do a chopped salad with corn, peppers, broccoli, carrots, etc. Serve with a homemade Ranch/chipotle dressing or, if you really want to be down home, French dressing. Garnish with crushed Fritos or corn chips.

[Emme]

I'm thinking something with corn and/or okra.

Fried green tomatoes are lighter than they sound.

Black-eyed pea (salad).

Carrot-raisin slaw.

[piccola]

You could make coleslaw if you're set on a salad. Make it a vinegar-y one so it's lighter.

Otherwise, standard "down home" veggies include the classic peas-and-carrots combo, or stewed greens. You could even pull off something really simple, like steamed broccoli.

[Cheese Boy]

Collards, mustard greens, or kale should work well in your repertoire. Skip the salad idea.