Food With a Little Soul

A couple of nights ago me and Dave wanted to make a meal. We didn't have a theme as that's the norm for us. He said he was making mac and cheese. Soul, the next thing we know is that we want a light soul food undertone. With little time and even less disagreement we settled on a few dishes, invited some more people, and stuffed ourselves.

Dave did us well with an awesome mac n cheese which is a soul food staple, and this awesome spicy broccoli soup that could be at any dinner table no matter what the theme.

I added to the mix by making greens, Hoppin' John, and Corn Bread. Here's how it went down:

Collard Greens

1 bunch of organic collards

6 cups of water

2 tsp better than bouillon

salt pepper

2 cloves garlic

Add bouillon , garlic, salt and pepper to your water and bring to a simmer. Rough chop your greens and add them to the simmering pot. Let them simmer on low for about a half hour. Serve them with some broth and enjoy.

Hoppin John

2 cans black eyed peas

1 package fake bacon

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

6 cups cooked rice

olive oil

salt

pepper

First get your rice cooking. Then dice your bacon,onion and garlic. Add a little olive oil to your saute pan. add the bacon onion and garlic to the pan with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook over medium high heat for about 6 minutes allowing for all the flavors to blend. Then add your peas to the pan with more salt and cook for about two more minutes. When the rice is ready add the bean, bacon and onion mix to the rice. It is a very tasty dish.

Corn Bread

unbleached flour

cornmeal

agave

rice milk

brown sugar

baking powder

cream of tartar

olive oil

salt

I forgot the measures for the corn bread mix but its pretty simple. You can kind just throw it together. Make sure you only use a tiny amount for the baking powder and cream of tartar. But mix this stuff up, grease a baking pan and bake for at 375 for about 12-15 minutes.

Serve with friends and beer and enjoy!

Photos courtesy of Dave's iPhone