* Item: Sylvia's Restaurant canned vegetables

* What you get: 3 servings

* Cost: About $1

* Preparation time: Just a few minutes to heat

* Review: Sylvia, founder of the famed Harlem restaurant that bears her name, smiles out from the label of her own line of canned vegetables. The Queen of Soul Food includes a personal note on each can. With such a warm invitation to dine, who could go wrong? Not Sylvia. We tried the Specially-Seasoned Black-Eye Peas, the Specially-Seasoned Mustard Greens and the Specially-Cut Yams. The peas were great - plain as a side dish and rewarmed later with a bit of barbecue sauce and some cheese. The greens - seasoned with some freshly fried bacon - tasted liked they had simmered on the stove all afternoon. The yams swam in a light syrup suitable for serving, but for optimum results, follow the suggestions for candying them found on the label.

Pub Date: 9/23/98