Meatless Monday - New Year's Black-eyed Peas

In preparation for a prosperous new year tonight I’ll be making a traditional southern dish.  First thought of as a dish for livestock or a dish for the poor, Black-eyed peas is seen as a dish for luck into the New Year.

Served with collard greens or with cornbread, it’s thought that the origin of eating black-eyed peas for luck comes from the Civil War. 

After hubby and I moved here from California we were invited to my Grandma’s house for Black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day.  She proceeded to tell him all about how you would get one penny for every pea you ate.  From that day till this we eat them every New Year’s day.

You don’t have to limit this great legume to only a holiday meal.  Black-eyed peas are low in fat, low in sodium and have no cholesterol.  They are very high in iron, fiber and potassium.  ½ cup serving has as much protein as one ounce of lean meat.

Ingredients

½ bag of black-eyed peas

1 small onion

1 containers of vegetarian vegetable broth (I make the distinction here because they do have veggie broth that contains animal products so check your label to confirm)

*NOTE* Soak the peas for about 2 hours in water before starting them to cook

Now on to the recipe!

Finely dice 1 medium onion

Add 2 tbsps. butter to a large sauce pan on medium heat

Add the onions to the melted butter and sauté

When onions are clear strain the water out of the peas and add them to the pot

Add 1 container of Vegetarian vegetable broth

Add about 3 – 4 cups of water – to fill the pot bring to a boil

Cook until tender

Salt and Pepper to taste

Serve

Some people serve these as I mentioned previously with collard greens or corn bread. 

Wishing all of you a joyous and prosperous new year!

Namaste & Blessed Be

Sosanna

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