New Year's Day Black Eyed Pea Soup

Hello everyone! Long time no see. Lots going on here, so sorry I haven't been a faithful blogger as of late, but I promise to have more regular posts in the new year. Today I somehow managed to wrangle the hubby into posting about his New Year's Day tradition. I can attest it really is quite delicious and an enjoyable break for me to have him cook. I hope you enjoy.....

Making Black Eyed Pea Soup has been a New Year’s Day Loboda tradition for the past 3 years.  There is belief in many cultures (particularly in the Southern USA and Jewish cultures) that eating Black Eyed Peas on New Year’s Day will bring prosperity. And there are many health benefits from eating black eyed peas, for example black eyed peas contain a good source of the nutrients calcium, folate and Vitamin A. You can find more information here.

Whenever I make a recipe with black eyed peas, I prefer to use dried beans and not canned. This is due to two reasons: 1) dried beans are much cheaper and 2) canned beans contain large amounts of sodium and may have BPA in the can liners.

I prefer to do the overnight soak method for cooking dried beans. This allows the beans to be ready for boil the next day. Once they have boiled for a few hours and are tender, they can be used in a recipe. 

The two recipes I like to make with black eyed peas are Black Eyed Pea Soup and Cowboy (Texas) Caviar. The recipe for Black Eyed Pea Soup is below. For those that don’t know Cowboy Caviar, it is very much like salsa with black eyed peas and additional beans (black or kidney), vegetables like onion and peppers and it is vinegar based. Please contact me if you would like that recipe.

Black Eyed Pea Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

5 stalks celery, chopped

2 cups chicken or veggie broth (you can add more if you prefer a soup to a stew)

1 cup brown rice

2 cups dried black-eyed peas (approx. 6 cups cooked black-eyed peas )

1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Cajun seasoning and cayenne pepper to taste

1       Prepare the Black Eyed Peas according to the  overnight soak method.       Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, and cook the onion, pepper, and celery and garlic until tender. Pour in the chicken broth, and mix in rice, black-eyed peas, and diced tomatoes.  Season with Cajun and Cayenne. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 45 minutes, or until rice is tender.