Ham beans

...is what I call my mama's green beans, slow-cooked in ham grease in a Crockpot.

The South is not known for its kind treatment to green vegetables. Whereas I like my greenery crisp, my grandmother never met a vegetable she couldn't boil into a grey mush. Preferably with some kind of pork fat. This method works well for collard greens, but not much else.

Except for ham beans. My mom cans dozens of quarts of green beans every summer, and while they're not nearly as tasty as fresh green beans, in the dead of winter they're a lot better than tinny-tasting canned ones. She slow-cooks them with a ham bone and the grease left over from cooking the ham, ending up with a Crockpot full of green beans that taste like ham.

So: green beans (preferably home-canned, but regular canned will work), and the leftovers from a ham. Combine in a Crockpot. Set on low for several hours. Enjoy with barbecue.