Memphis Meets Greece

If I had to choose a favorite bean, I'd definitely go with the plain ole' white bean or Great Northern Beans as they're officially called. Of course, navy beans and cannellini beans are pretty much interchangable. That's why I've always loved the classic Greek fasolada — a white bean soup made with veggies and fresh herbs.

Traditional fasolada contains tomatoes and any combo of carrots, onions, and/or celery. But I'm not traditional, and hey, this is fusion cuisine! I've combined the best of the classic Greek soup (white beans) with my favorite Southern veggie (fresh greens ... in this case, kale), red bell pepper, and dill for my Southern-Style Fasolada:

Some of y'all might think this warming soup may be a little too wintry for this time of year, but I think beans are appropriate no matter what the season. Besides, I developed this recipe a while back, and I've been needing to test it for the cookbook.

Rather than enjoy my fasolada with crusty bread as is traditional, I fried up a batch of my Hoe Cakes instead (also going in my cookbook):

These flapjack-style cornbread cakes are perfect for crumblin' into your beans. Or they're also damn tasty schmeared with Earth Balance and eaten alone.