Black-eyed Peas and Collard Greens for the New Year

I am a little late in posting this. Following the tradition from the last few years I made black eyed peas and collard greens on New Years Day.

For lunch, I made these Mediterranean flavored wraps with steamed black eyed peas seasoned with salt, sun dried tomatoes in oil, black olives, sliced cucumber, sliced orange pepper, banana peppers and roasted pepper hummus.

For dinner I made soup loosely following the recipe here.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup black eyed peas, soaked over night and steamed
2-3 large collard greens
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 bay leaf
1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup broth (or use use water like I do)
1/2 tsp berbere spice
touch of turmeric
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
cilantro to garnish
squeeze of fresh lemon juice (optional)

If using dry black eyed peas, soak in water overnight. Steam in a pressure cooker with twice the amount of water.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large dutch over or pan. Add bay leaf, turmeric, onion, jalapeno, ginger and garlic and fry till lightly golden. Add berbere, salt, fresh ground pepper and tomatoes and continue cooking for five minutes.

Add broth or water, coconut milk and bring to a boil. Reduce flame to medium low and continue to simmer for 20 minutes. Add the cooked black eyed peas. Add more broth or coconut milk as needed and continue to simmer for another 15-20 minutes.

Add chopped greens and mix well. Keep cooking for another 5-10 minutes.  Garnish with some cilantro, drizzle of lemon juice  and serve warm with some rolls.

See Also:

Black-Eyed Peas for Prosperity in the New Year
Hoppin’ John
Black-eyed Peas and Greens with Navrattan Spices to start the New Year
Black-eyed Peas and Collard Greens

Black-eyed Peas and Greens with Navrattan Spices to start the New Year

Happy New Year!

The southern tradition of cooking black-eyed peas and greens for luck and prosperity dates back to the Civil War era. The last few years, I have been enjoying following this tradition by trying a new recipe to cook black-eyed peas and greens.

Following a west meets east, I decided to use a blend of 9 different spices in this year’s recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup dry black-eyed peas
2-3 celery stalks, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and cut
1 onion, chopped
4 Roma tomatoes
1/2 bunch kale chopped
1 jalapeno, cut
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 in piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1-2 bay leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 anise star
1 small cinnamon stick
5 cloves
1/2 tsp poppy seeds
2-3 cardamon seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
dash of turmeric
1-2 tbsp coconut oil
cilantro to garnish
juice of lemon

Soak black-eyed peas for 12-16 hours. Rinse and cover with twice the amount of water and cook in a pressure cooker. If you skip this step, you just need to simmer for longer time period later on.

In a large pan, add coconut oil and dry spices and lightly cook for a minute. Add ginger, garlic, jalapeno and onion and continue to cook till the onion becomes translucent. Add carrots and celery and fry for a minute.

Blend tomatoes in a blender and add the juices to the pan. Add two cups water and bring to a boil. Add cooked black-eyed peas and continue to cook on medium low for about 30 minutes.

Add kale and continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes. Drizzle some lemon juice and garnish with cilantro and serve warm with rice or bread.

Hoppin’ John

It is interesting to hear about the New Year’s Day traditions for luck across the world. For instance, people from Netherlands burned their Christmas tree, or in Spain red underwear for hope and prosperity or eat grapes, or eating black eyed peas (Hoppin’ John) a southern tradition.

Since I discovered the black-eyed peas tradition, each year I love to cook blacked eyed peas on New Year’s Day. This year is no different. And I found the perfect recipe on ELR. It is not only healthy but turned out delicious! Here is how I made mine with a few minor changes.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup black eyed peas
1/4 cup brown rice
4 cherry tomatoes chopped
2 green onions sliced
some chopped cilantro
some pickled jalapeno (optional)
1-2 tbsp sour cream (optional) can use cheddar cheese instead as the original recipe call for.
salt and pepper to taste

For the relish:
1 medium tomato
1 jalapeno or Serrano pepper (de-seeded)
1-2 tbsp mustard
Soak the black-eyed peas overnight. I usually like to rinse and cook mine peas in a pressure cooker, but you can also cook on medium low with twice the amount of water for an hour. Rinse and cook the brown rice with twice the amount of water until cooked and all the water evaporates.

Meanwhile, blend the tomato, pepper and mustard in a food processor.

Mix the peas and rice. Add sliced green onions, chopped tomatoes and cilantro. Drizzle relish, add salt and pepper and mix. Top with pickled jalapeno and sour cream.

Happy New Year!