Beans and Greens

Until we joined a CSA three seasons ago, I would not have considered greens with beans and some sort of broth, with a little pork, to be the basis of so many meals.

I wandered back into my archives and found at least a half dozen versions of the beans and greens themes in them. Like this one.

The Tuscan soup version, with kale.

And, one of my first attempts from the freezer.

Much like this one I made today, but with tomatoes.

Today’s was a lighter variation.

I don’t even use recipes anymore. I just wing it. This one used all the mustard greens we got last week. The rest of the bok choy from a week ago. The turnip greens. I started it in the crock pot with carrots, celery, onion and the thicker white parts of the bok choy. A half pint of my chicken stock. A wee bit of bacon grease. I fried up a pound of bacon that I got at England Acres. It has been in three meals and there is still some in the fridge.

I added the greens, some bacon, two cans of butter beans, and two cups of almond milk, making this a non-dairy soup.

What you see in the finished soup are some Great Harvest croutons. As for flavor, I added salt, pepper, parsley, garlic powder, paprika and ground ginger. I also cut up and added an apple to give a hint of sweetness.

Just before serving, I ladled out about half of it, avoiding the bacon pieces, and blended it to give it that creaminess.

A very hearty soup. Served with a “competition” of Sauvignon Blancs. Linden versus Glen Manor. The 2011’s. We decided the Glen Manor complemented the soup better, although Linden was a much bigger bodied SB.

Here’s to the last week of our summer CSA. Looking forward to fall veggies. Glad that my experience motivated me to cook more with hearty greens.

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