The other day, I found myself giving my son a speech about being grateful for the food on his plate. When I was a child, I was told there were starving children in some other part of the world who would love to eat the food I was complaining about.

The reality is that many children in our own community are hungry.

(According to JoAnn Chartier at the Good Shepherd Food-Bank, Maine has more than 69,000 children within the poverty range who qualify for free lunches. For information on how you can help feed the hungry, contact the Good Shepherd Food-Bank at 782-3554, or www.GSFB.org.)

One place where I was always encouraged to have seconds and even thirds was in my step-mom, Paula’s, childhood kitchen. On Hurstborne Road in Rochester, N.Y., Paula’s grandmother, better known as Nana, would cook us yummy Sunday night and holiday dinners.

Having lived through the Depression, Nana was determined to make sure that none of her children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren left the table feeling hungry. One of my favorite Nana meals is beans and greens.

Beans and greens is Depression-era food. Resources were limited when Nana was first married, and she made this often because it provided high protein, good greens, good fats and was inexpensive.

Today, it is a trendy food for the same reasons.

Even Rachael Ray of the popular Food Network and show “30 Minute Meals” likes beans and greens with garlic broth. In fact, it is one of her grandfather’s favorites, and in a recent interview Ray said she “could live on this soup all winter and never tire of it.”

My brother, Rob Lunn, plays football for the University of Connecticut. When he was a freshman, the football team chef asked first-year students for some recipes from home. Beans and greens was one my brother submitted.

My 285-pound brother, who stands 6’3,” says that he loves greens and beans because “it’s basically the perfect food nutritionally speaking. You have complex carbohydrates and a great source of protein along with plenty of iron and healthy fats from the olive oil.”

“But, of course, that’s not why I really love it,” he notes. “It reminds me of home, it has got to be the best food … and it really fills you up right. It kind of reminds me of the quintessential home-cooked meal, as well as the fact that it reflects a part of my heritage.”

So, if you want to feed this meal to some children, tell them they may get to be as tall as 6’3” and weigh 285 pounds – if they eat their beans and greens.

Beans and greens

Ingredients:

1 head of escarole, rinsed and cleaned well; or 2 prewashed, 10-ounce bags of chopped escarole

1 can of Goya small white beans or navy beans. Cannelloni beans can also be used, but Nana likes the smaller ones.

1 can of chicken broth

¼ to ½ cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves

garlic salt

Paprika for coloring

Cooked Italian sausage (which was scarce during the Depression and considered a treat) or pasta, if desired

Method:

Put ¼ cup olive oil into a large saucepan. Heat slowly (on medium) and slowly put in one bag of escarole so it is covered with oil and begin to sauté. As it wilts, add remaining escarole. Season with garlic salt and one clove chopped garlic. You can keep the pieces large and remove later, or mince the clove and leave it in the dish. After all the escarole is wilted and sautéd, add chicken broth and simmer for 10-15 minutes. (The time will depend on how tough the escarole is. Make sure the escarole is not hard to chew. Sometimes it will take longer than 15 minutes.) In a separate small pan, drain beans and sauté in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add paprika for color and another clove of garlic (minced or in large slices). When the escarole is soft and cooked, add beans, and it’s ready to serve. At this point, you can add pieces of cooked Italian sausage if desired. You could also add this over cooked pasta for another take on a meal to make it less souplike.

Note: All of these ingredient amounts are approximate because Nana cooks according to taste and feel. I have, however, made the recipe as provided here; and while it didn’t taste as perfect as Nana’s, my husband and kids loved it.

Colleen Lunn Scholer is a freelance writer living in Auburn who likes to cook with her husband and two young children.