Southern Comfort

Food that is....sorry if you thought this was going to be a post about that spicy, fruity whiskey drink. Nope, this is a post about beans, greens, and cornbread. It doesn't get any better than that, now does it. Ok, so I guess it depends on who you are asking.....my husband and kids would probably disagree, but hey, they don't do the cooking do they? Seriously, I could eat beans and greens until I was sick, I love them that much.

When we were up a Huber's a few weeks ago I picked up a jar of their Chow-Chow. I've been meaning to make my own, but I'm just too damn lazy these days, and when I saw it on the shelves I had to buy it. I mean, locally grown, locally produced, and locally canned, it doesn't get any closer to homemade.

In the south chow chow is typically served over pinto beans, but I didn't have any of those, so I cooked up a big batch of black eyed peas and served the chow chow over that. Rob is usually not a fan of beans as a main dish, but he indeed liked them when served with a big spoonful of chow chow on top. Mairin claimed to not like them, and Stella preferred hers without chow chow....oh well, that leaves more for me I guess.

To go along with the beans I cooked up some greens, loosely based on Chessa's ravings about these smoky greens. Now I say loosely, because I was actually missing most of the ingredients and I didn't have collards. So, my concoction was a combo of mustard greens and kale from the CSA, I didn't have mushrooms, and I didn't have chipotle in adobo (but I did have bottle of Frontera chipotle sauce which is basically ground up chipotle in adobo, so I used that), and finally I didn't follow any of the measurements in the recipe because I didn't have 5 lbs of greens, so I just threw things in here and there. I have to say, the results were damn good. These were by far the best greens EVER!! I can't wait to follow the recipe and find out what the actual results are.

And, what's a southern Beans and Greens dinner without cornbread? Well, it's not complete, that's what I say, so of course, there was a big pan of cornbread to accompany the meal. Oh, and some southern fried potatoes and onions from the CSA as well.

Just look at that feast, it really doesn't get any better!!