Soup Beans and Greens

Dinner Jan 30, 2025

Note: Beans soaked in salt water overnight and drained before use.

Served with Buttermilk Cornbread.

Ingredients:

2 Yellow Onions

~1lb Salted Fatback

freshly ground Black Pepper 1lb Dried Beans, Soaked Overnight

~2-3 quarts Stock

1lb Greens (Collard, Mustard, Turnip, or any combo)

Red Wine Vinegar

Soup Beans Directions:

Mince one onion and slice fatback into ½-inch cubes. Set aside a fifth of the fatback for the greens

Add onion, fatback, and beans to a crockpot, add enough stock to just cover the beans. Season with pepper (and salt if your fatback didn't come pre-salted)

Cook on low for 8 hours or till beans are fully cooked.

Greens Directions:

Wash the greens.

Cut out any tough stems from the greens, then cut leaves into bite sized pieces. Chop the second onion.

In a large pot, cook the fatback until it has rendered out some fat. Then add the onion and cook until softened.

Add a quart of stock and the collards to the pot and cook at a simmer for about an hour.

Season with red wine vinegar and black pepper (and salt if needed).

Final Notes:

We've made soup beans before but used saltpork because we could not find fatback. I finally found some, and the beans really are much better with fatback. Didn't make as much of a difference for the greens. Not using kale in the greens is what made them better than usual.

Soup beans served with greens and cornbread