Picture this: a table spread of fried buttery chicken and tangy barbecue placed next to roasted eggplant, faro, and a fresh salad of tomato, cucumber, olive, and feta cheese.
Welcome to the Hooker household, a place where seemingly disparate flavors regularly join forces to celebrate both the family’s Southern and Greek roots. This combination of rich Mississippi classics and vegetable-forward Mediterranean platters is wowing locals in the latest food blog to take the South by storm.
Introducing the Hungry Hooker − a food blog dedicated to recreating decadent meals, while using innovative flavor combinations and lighter ingredient substitutes to create the perfect blend of homey and nutritious.
Despite the influence of countless, homemade, childhood dinners, Mary Alexander Satterfield’s cooking journey didn’t take off until the onset of the pandemic.
The then newly-wed explains how she took advantage of temporary restaurant closures to experiment with different dishes for her husband, sharing her creations and recipes with friends on social media.
It was around this time that her following grew exponentially, as other families also found themselves sequestered at home, bored and hungry.
“If I would have known this [would be my career] in social media, I would have laughed,” Mary reflects on the bourgeoning popularity of her blog. “You never know where life will take you.”
Mary enjoys the entire creative process of food blogging, from recipe conception to cooking, to getting just the right photo to make your mouth water. She loves lassoing her husband into the kitchen to fulfill his test-tasting duties. She divulges that getting his stamp of approval is her favorite part.
“To get that reaction from whoever you’re serving is rewarding,” adding that any sort of feedback from friends, parents, or blog readers, about how they can use her recipes to bring their families together, means the whole world to her.
“You can have foods that taste great and feel like you’re eating your favorite takeout dish, but with a few swaps, you can have a healthier version,” explaining that the same meal at a restaurant may be loaded with hidden ingredients such as excess sodium, fats, or even chemical stabilizers.
Mary and her husband are expecting, and so these days she stays active by taking long walks around Shelby Farms Park with her golden doodle and doing Pilates at the Neighborhood Barre in Memphis. Yoga has also played a significant role in her health and fitness journey, and she reminds readers that the breath work of yoga is just as important as its elements of movement.
Mary uses Sundays as an opportunity to food shop and reset from the weekend, and usually prepares a nutritious dinner to jumpstart the week.
To bring some color to your table this spring, we recommend Mary’s tasty creamy dill chopped salad, paired with grilled shrimp.
Mary Alexander Satterfield is a Memphis-based recipe developer and content creator. She runs a food blog called @the_hungry_hooker inspired by her maiden name Hooker. MA takes recipes you love and lightens them up with clean 22 ingredients giving them a healthy twist. Learn more at Hungryhooker.com and follow on Instagram @the_hungry_hooker.
By Shlomit Ovadia
Photo by Mary Alexander Satterfield
