Ode To the South.....I'm Talking About Collards, Y'all!

Thanks to my dear old friend, Michelle, I'm blogging two nights in a row. OK, so she's not really "old", it's just that I've known her since I was in middle school and honestly, there aren't that many people that I still know that I've known that long.

I'm not complaining, I'm actually quite happy that she requested ideas for collard greens. I made this last weekend. It was super easy, super yummy and super inexpensive to make. I received these beautiful collard greens from my local CSA, Harvest2U, last week. Also, you could use other types of greens with this recipe like mustard, beet or turnip greens. For those of you who are also Harvest2U customers, I know you received some beautiful beets with the greens attached and YES, you can use those.

Black Eyed Peas With Ham and Collard Greens

Here's what you'll need for this recipe:

1 1/2 cups black eyed peas (soaked, drained and rinsed) or 2 cans of black eyed peas

2T olive oil

1/2 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

One ham bone with some ham still on it OR two cups of diced ham.

-You could easily purchase an inexpensive ham steak for this purpose, I had ham scraps in the freezer from the holidays

4-6 cups chicken stock

1 bunch of collard greens, rinsed and rough chopped

Parmesan cheese (optional)

Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

OK, are you ready for some seriously easy comfort food? 

Heat olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven. Saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent. Add the ham to the onion mixture and heat until the ham is warm. 

Once you've heated the ham through, add the black eyed peas, chicken stock and pepper. Cover the pot and bring to a gentle boil. 

Once the the liquid begins to boil, add the collard greens and stir. 

The collards will turn bright green and then start to wilt. 

Now, put the lid back on and turn the heat to down to low. Cook until the black eyed peas have reached the desired tenderness. I think mine took around 30 minutes or so. Also, keep an eye on the liquid level and add more if it needed.

When the black eyed peas are tender the meal is ready. Top with grated parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes if desired.
*On a side note, you could also season with Worcestershire sauce or apple cider vinegar once served. I tend to like a little vinegar in my bean soups/stews.

Enjoy!