Southern Beans and Greens Saute (& The Last Organic Outpost urban farm visit)

It took me a while to realize it, but Houston’s claim to fame is not its hot summer. It may be infamous for its stifling, humid summers, but that’s not when the most fun occur. For people, nor plants.

I love it when readers help me learn the ropes of my new town. It took me a while to wrap my head around it, but it is just too hot for most vegetables to grow. Coming from Ontario, summer equals fresh vegetables. Right now, we are between seasons in Texas. I will quit lamenting the lack of flavourful tomatoes (for now), the local vegetables will be coming in the fall and spring.  Despite being between seasons, vegetables can still be grown, though. Recently I visited an urban farm and loved it so much, I wanted to share the experience with you.

The Last Organic Outpost is an urban, community farm. We weren’t sure what to expect, as this farm is close to where we live. Truly a hidden gem, they encourage the community to become involved in creating their own farming experience and ultimately to sell enough to become self-driven.

It is completely volunteer-run, except for one farmer they employ. They minimize costs by recycling unwanted goods. Donated hot tubs will be turned into planters. Cars have been turned into vermicomposters, bee havens, etc.

Of course, they also grow vegetables. Despite being between seasons, they were growing greens (collards, dinosaur kale, spinach — all grown year-round), herbs, sweet peppers, eggplant, winter squash as well as figs and papayas. The somewhat chaotic plants reminded me of my small garden in Toronto.

At first I thought it was just a big plant with pretty flowers, but they also had different kinds of okra. Small, long and purple varieties. I had never tried just picked okra and it was refreshingly crisp.

Talk about freshly picked, they had produce for sale as well as special sampler bags which is what we purchased (it included kale, spinach, eggplant and butternut squash). Because it is volunteer-driven, their hours are variable but keep an eye on their facebook page if you want to become more involved.

Have no fear, there is still a delicious recipe attached to this post. When in the South, why not try their local specialties, too? Although traditional beans and greens in the South usually use collards, black eyed peas and ham/bacon, this one was a nice twist. I honesty wasn’t expecting much, but was blown away by the flavour. A quality liquid smoke definitely brings this dish to the next level. Have you ever looked at the ingredient lists of the liquid smokes at the store? I thought we could omit it from our Houston pantry, but caved. Once we started looking, though, there were a lot of additives to most liquid smoke “seasonings”. The one we settled on just has water, hickory smoke, mesquite smoke as its ingredients and I really like it. It also won this taste test. 🙂

Anyways, this is a simple skillet saute with carrots, (pinto) beans and (kale) greens. I used a melange of spices for my vegetable stock substitute and I think it worked really well with the liquid smoke. Easy, peasy.. and delicious.

I am looking forward to coming back to The Last Organic Outpost once the growing season resumes. 🙂

This is my submission to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Elena, and to this month’s challenge to Shop Local.

Southern Beans and Greens Saute
Adapted from The Great Vegan Bean Book

1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, thinly sliced and chopped into small pieces
2 cups water* (can replace the starred ingredients with vegetable broth)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast*
1/2 tsp dried parsley*
1/4 tsp dried thyme*
1/4 tsp lemon pepper seasoning*
1/2 tsp liquid smoke (I highly recommend Cedar House)
8 cups stemmed and chopped kale (180g)
2 cups cooked pinto beans (I used cooked Rebosero beans)

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add oil. Once hot, add onion, sprinkle with salt and saute for 5 minutes until fragrant and translucent. Add garlic and carrot and cook another 5 minutes until the carrot is slightly charred on the edges.

2. Deglaze with the water and add the nutritional yeast, parsley, thyme, lemon pepper seasoning, and liquid smoke. Bring to a boil and cook carrots for 10 minutes, until tender.

3. In batches, add kale. Cover with lid and allow to wilt slightly and turn a brilliant green, around 3-5 minutes. Uncover. Stir in beans and heat through. Season to taste.

Serves 3-4.