Red Beans and Rice with Collard Greens

Here's another of those simple southern meals that we love.  In this case its the royal "we".  Start by sorting 1 lb of dry red beans to remove any stones or dirt.  Cook them in 6C water,along with a whole onion, a carrot and a rib of celery either in a slow cooker or on the stove if you are short of time.  The cooking time will very but is a minimum of 3 hrs.  The herbs are up to you but we added 4 garlic cloves, 1T dry thyme and a bay leaf.  Meat is also optional but in this case we added a 1/4 lb slab of salt pork.  When the beans are done, remove the lean meat from the salt pork and add it back to the beans.  Remove the vegetables and discard.

Prepare some rice according to package directions.  The greens, in this case collard greens, were chopped and steamed with 1/4C vinegar.  Serve the meal with Tabasco on the side and corn bread if you wish.