Chicory, radicchio, endive, and escarole, members of the Chicorium family, grow all over the place in Italy, which is why there's such a huge number of ways to cook them in the Italian canon. Varieties like escarole, with its broad dark green leaves and pale stalks, are often stewed with white cannelini beans in the sort of simple, pure cucina povera that food writers get all weepy over. I'm no exception, and I particularly like the version made by Ralph Pedota at Bari Foods.

Pedota, who's been working in the little grocery since the mid-60s, stews escarole and great northern beans in a chicken base with garlic, onions, and a bit of tomato. It's a southern Italian recipe (from Bari, in fact). Packed in 24-ounce containers in the refrigerated section, it's pretty much a soup that eats like a meal, with soft, creamy beans that play off the still slightly crunchy stewed greens. If that's too reductive for your highfalutin palate, you can pimp it up with a drizzle of good olive oil and grated Romano cheese.