Black-Eyed Pea and Kale Soup Recipe

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I can hardly believe that in just a few days, we’ll be welcoming a new year. While the holiday season always feels like it comes and goes too quickly, we’ve had a relaxing few weeks celebrating with family and friends.  Our New Year’s celebration will likely be just as quiet and cozy spent with family and a warm meal.  While our Christmas meal always incorporates some of my heritage and our family’s traditions, that isn’t so for New Year’s. Popular foods served during this time include appetizers and finger foods, desserts, and sparkly drinks.  In true New Year’s fashion, we decided to take our own twist on traditional Black-Eyed Pea Recipes with a hearty soup.

Traditions surrounding New Year’s meals include the belief that eating certain foods will bring good luck.  While I don’t necessarily believe in “luck,” I do think that dishes containing foods like black-eyed peas can be a healthy start to the new year. Traditionally eaten in the south, these legumes contain calcium, folate, protein, vitamin A and fiber.

Here is our Black-Eyed Pea and Kale Soup Recipe!

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Black-Eyed Pea and Kale Soup Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup of dried black eyed peas
• 64 ounces of chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
• 2 slices of bacon
• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 bunch of kale spines removed and chopped
• Crème fraîche chopped chives, and bacon bits to garnish

Instructions

1. Rehydrate black eyed peas in 4 cups of water overnight
2. Strain peas and place in a large pot with broth and fresh rosemary
3. Bring peas to a boil, then simmer for 1 hour or until peas are soft. (Optional, add 2 slices of bacon to soup for flavor)
4. In a separate pan, sauté onion, carrots, and celery until soft
5. Add vegetables to soup and simmer
6. When peas are nearly cooked, add kale
7. Prior to serving, remove bacon strips if added
8. Serve soup garnished with crème fraîche, chopped chives, and bacon bits

All of the ingredients used in our soup recipe were purchased at Walmart.  While you can definitely substitute canned beans in a pinch, I highly recommend using dry beans whenever possible because they are more affordable and allow you to be in control of what goes in your meal.  Canned beans can contain added sodium, preservatives or other unnatural ingredients and the cans are often lined with BPA.

The only real disadvantage to using dry beans is the need to plan ahead of time by soaking them overnight and cooking the beans for at least an hour.

The rich flavor from this soup comes, in part, from the bacon.  If you adhere to a vegetarian diet like I do, you can use vegetable broth in place of chicken broth and omit the bacon altogether. The soup is absolutely delightful without it.  Also remember that since this is a soup, you can substitute your favorite ingredients if you’re missing something.

What is your favorite dish to serve on New Year’s?  I’d love to share your recipe ideas below!

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Caryn Bailey

Caryn is a NICU nurse by day, blogger by night and mom 24/7. She savors the warm Southern California sun and loves to travel, shopping, baking, reading and frequenting her local tea room. Caryn created the column Lavishly Green for Peekaboo Picks Magazine to share her best tips for going green in style, she is the Former editor for Family Review Network, former OC Family Magazine online contributor, former Orange County Moms Blog contributor, former Evenflo Savvy Parent contributor, former member of the Totsy Advisory Board and former freelance writer for CBS Los Angeles.

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