Southern Black Eyed Peas

Southern, Soul Food Black Eyed Peas

Nothing says Happy New Years better than a pot of southern black eyed peas & soul food collard greens! Whether you buy into the hype that eating these dishes will bring wealth & a slew of other good things, just enjoying them with family and being thankful that I've made it into another year is MORE THAN ENOUGH for me!

This is my grandmothers soul food recipe (that I've tweaked a bit). It's a basic recipe for a pot of good ol, southern black eyed peas.  She blesses us with these throughout the year but on New Years they tend to taste a bit better.  Talk about flavorful!!! Forget the bland, mushy black eyed peas you may have tasted in the past. This recipe always gets a "wow, these are some good black eyed peas!" from newbies that have never tasted hers before.  Like always my grandmother just smiles and say "well...it could be better" lol (she's adorable!)

This recipe could easily be turned into vegetarian-friendly black eyed peas by omitting the meat and using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. You can even get all fancy smancy and throw in some chopped tomatoes, celery and all that other jazz.

Either way they taste fabulous! Pour on some hot sauce and give me a fat piece of cornbread on the side and I'm a happy woman!

Watch me make these black eyed peas from start to finish!

Ingredients

4-5 green onions, chopped (or 1 medium white onion, chopped)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 (16 oz) bag of dry black eyed peas
Smoked Turkey or Ham (as much as you desire. I used half of a fully cooked, smoked turkey leg. Just chopped the meat up into bits. You can leave it whole if you do not like meat in your black eyed peas but like the flavor)
6-8 cups of chicken broth (or enough to cover the beans)
Red pepper flakes, black pepper (optional)


Step 1.) Sort & wash the black eyed peas. Set aside.
Step 2.) Chop onions & garlic.
Step 3.) In a large pot, add in 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and saute the onions and garlic until tender.
Step 3.) Add in the chopped meat, black eye peas, & chicken broth
Step 4.) Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour or  until black eyed peas are tender.
Step 5.) Remove from heat and let sit covered for about 10-15 minutes.
Step 6.) Season with red pepper & black pepper if desired.

Enjoy!!!