My husband and your soup delivery driver, Garth, is from Alabama. In our seventeen years together, a common touch point to family and finding a sense of home in his hometown has most often taken place during the sweltering summer. I’m from Florida, so was accustomed to the air-conditioned form of self-preservation required to make it through the season, finding ways to enjoy it even. I developed a great love of Birmingham’s farmer’s market, working there one summer during college between classes that afforded me to graduate early and attend culinary school. I’d determined as a then vegetarian that Southerners know how to eat vegetables, and relished in their abundance at the market. I took note of what I loved at our family’s favorite “meat n’ three” establishments and hoped someday to be able to recreate their flavors from what I loved at the market. This soup is my version of that young cook’s dream come true: honoring my family and the flavors of summer in Alabama.
Serving Suggestions:
- If I was feeling in the mood for a heartier Southern dinner, I would strain the soup and use the broth to make some version of grits and serve the soft beans and vegetables on top.
- Alongside a generous hunk of cornbread (or this skillet bread that is also in the cookbook)
- Stir in rotisserie chicken. Or do the first option and serve with a piece of blackened or fried catfish, or fried chicken.
Show me how you cook and serve it by emailing me your photo! Submissions are automatically entered to win a drawing for a Soup Club cookbook.
Yes, all this fun and love went into the recipe. That’s why it tastes so good.
