It’s tradition, y’all. And in the South we’re all about tradition. Black-eyed peas and greens can be found in some form or another on just about every Southern table on New Year’s Day ensuring wealth and good luck.
Legend has it that the tradition dates back to the Civil War era (what doesn’t in the South?) when Union soldiers stripped the fields bare except for peas and greens which they left thinking they were animal feed. That was a win-win for those poor Southerners.
What we really know is the idea of eating peas and greens dates back much further than the Civil War. According to the Talmud, which was written circa 500 AD, it was customary to eat peas and greens at the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. (AmericanFood.com)
Either way, what matters to me is that we carry on the tradition.
You may recall, I prefer purple hull peas over black-eyed peas any day. That’s what I usually sneak into my New Year’s Day good luck plate. Or rather, I usually sneak a few black-eyes into my purple hulls like I did with Black-Eyed Peas and Turnip Green Soup and my Hoppin’ John with Cavatappi (coming soon).
But this time, I had a pound of dried black-eyes left from making Gifts From the Kitchen Soup Mixes, so I decided to go in full throttle and make this absolutely delicious Lucky Black-Eyed Pea and Collard Greens Soup.
Now, if you’re not familiar with collard greens, let me encourage you to give them a try. Yes, you can substitute turnip greens or kale or even spinach, but I’m telling ya’ get prepared to lick your lips when you prepare collards the way I’m gonna’ show you.
Be sure to have a very large skillet, braiser or Dutch oven available. Just like spinach and kale, collards cook down significantly. You’ll start out with what seems to be a mountain of greens, ending up with about 1/3 of the starting pan. Because I like the added texture, I prefer to leave some of the tender stems rather than trimming them totally out. That’s up to you obviously.
Alternatively, you can finely chop the collards and throw them into the slow cooker during the last 1 hour of cooking.
Some people splash in a touch of vinegar, either apple cider or balsamicb to offset some of the bitterness of the greens. Hubs and I like to splash on some vinegary pepper sauce instead.
You can use all thick-cut Petit Jean Hickory Smoked Bacon™ in the soup, but I usually like a combination of pork cuts. This time I even rendered some hog jowl bacon along with the regular belly bacon.
Hog jowl bacon comes from the cheek of the pig rather than the belly and usually has a higher degree of fat per slice. I rarely find it in the market except around New Year’s Day so I pick up extra packages for the freezer.
Y’all fat is flavor!
I also cubed up some Petit Jean Smoked Sausage™ instead of ham because, well, that’s what I had on hand and wanted that extra spiciness. Either way you go, it’ll be mouth-watering.
On the question of soaking your peas. I don’t. It’s just not needed when cooking with the slow cooker. Really, it’s just not needed when cooking peas on the stovetop either. Just rinse the peas, discarding any that are blemished, and you’re good to go. The peas will hold their shape so much better without that long stretch in the water that is usually recommended.
If you like, serve the soup over a spoonful of Riceland Long-Grain White Rice™ or Riceland Gold Perfected Rice™. A skillet of cornbread would be a nice addition as well.
Lucky Black-Eyed Peas and Collard Greens Soup {Slow Cooker)
Notes
Smoked turkey (leg or wing meat preferably) may be used in place/in addition to the pork, if desired.
Ingredients
Soup
- 2 cups dried black-eyed peas
- 1/2 pound Petit Jean Meats Hickory Smoked™ thick-sliced bacon, chopped* (I subbed in some hog jowl.)
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 - 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (optional)
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 4 carrots, peeled and cubed
- 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided use
- 1 1/2 cups chopped Petit Jean Meats™ hickory smoked ham or smoked sausage)
- 1 14.5-ounce can Rotel™ (We prefer the Hot variety.)
- 1 Tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil (or save some of that bacon fat)
- 3 bunches collard greens, tough stems and ribs removed (tender ribs can be left), leaves thinly sliced
- 1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or more to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or Aleppo pepper flakes)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup uncooked Riceland™ long-grain white rice, prepared according to package directions (optional)
Instructions
Soup
- Rinse peas with cold water; set aside to drain.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add bacon and cook 4-5 minutes. Do not crisp. Remove and set aside to drain.
- Add onion, garlic, minced jalapeno, celery and carrots to bacon fat and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, 5 to 8 minutes.
- In a 5-6 quart slow cooker, add rinsed and drained peas, rendered bacon and onion mixture. Add 6 cups chicken broth, chopped ham or whatever pork you are using and Rotel™.
- Stir in kosher salt.
- Cook on LOW 8 - 10 hours.
- Prepare rice and set aside.
Collards
- In a large skillet or Dutch oven with lid about 30 - 45 minutes before serving, heat olive oil over medium heat.
- Add collard greens, cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add 2 cups chicken stock. Cover and simmer 20 - 30 minutes or more until cooked down.
- Season with brown sugar, garlic and onion powder, salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper.
- Taste soup for seasoning.
- Serve soup over rice (if using) and top with a spoonful of collard greens.
- Enjoy lots of good luck!
This is not a sponsored post.
I’ll be eating black-eyed peas with Petit Jean ham and cornbread today. Since I’m not a fan of cooked greens (I’d probably like yours though), I’ll eat a green salad.
WOW! This looks amazing!
We usually do hoppin’ john and corn bread on New Year’s Day but this year we tried a black-eyed pea salsa from the Pioneer Woman. It turned out pretty good. But this looks amazing!
I pinned this for next New Year’s Day but hopefully I’ll get try it before then. It looks so yummy!
I enjoyed the history of eating black-eyed peas as well!
Thanks!