Easy, Delicious Black-eyed Pea Soup

Hi everyone! I have a new, official website. Check this recipe out:

https://www.penneformythoughts.com/recipes/easy-delicious-black-eyed-pea-soup

There are a few inevitable things that come with New Year's in my house. The first is my sleep schedule getting messed up. The second is me beginning the countdown to my birthday and the third is this absolutely amazing black-eyed pea soup. It has been passed down my family for a while and I (shockingly) have made some minor tweaks. It is the perfect soup: meaty, warming, and absolutely delicious. I honestly make this soup all winter. I have no idea why people only eat black-eyed peas for New Year's day. Plus, it has been so flipflamming cold outside this week and, without this soup, I'm pretty sure I'd be an icicle right now. A very cold, unhappy icicle. Brr.

Anywho, the full explanation-free recipe is at the bottom of this post if you'd like to skip my explanation. 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb bacon
• 1 large onion (any type, I used white)
• 4 cans of black-eyed peas (ideally low sodium, do not drain)
• 4 cups chopped kale
• 4 cups broth (I use vegetable broth but any type works)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp dried dill (you can use 3 tsp fresh dill if you prefer)
• 1 package cornbread mix and whatever you need to make it (I used Jiffy so below is what you need to make that)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• Cooking spray

Yields: 6 servings

Minimum Total Time: 1 hr (minimum) - 5 hrs (maximum)
Active Time: 30 min.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a lipped baking sheet with aluminum foil. Line the baking sheet with slices of bacon. It is alright if they overlap a little bit. Cook 15-30 min. depending on desired crispy level. I love super crispy bacon in this soup (it also makes it easier to crumble up), so, I go closer to 30.

Heaven on a baking sheet

While the bacon cooks, dice the onion and rinse off the kale. If your kale isn't chopped, now is a good time to do that. You don't need to remove the kale stems (although you can if you'd prefer).

Once the bacon is done cooking, place bacon on a paper towel lined plate and set aside.

Add a tablespoon of the bacon grease to a large soup pot and put it on medium high heat. You can add more which will up the bacon flavor but I try to pretend that I'm being healthy. Add the chopped onion and black pepper. Saute until soft and fragrant, 6-8 minutes.

Crumble the bacon into the pot, add the broth, kale, dill, paprika and the black-eyed peas. Do not drain these; their liquid helps thicken the soup.

I actually grow my own herbs at home and freeze them, so, I added my dill-cubes instead of using dried dill. 

Dill-icious

Turn the heat to high and allow to boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to a simmer. Cover the pot.

Allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. It can simmer all day if you want. I usually make it around lunch time and let it bubble away until dinner.

After simmering all day

While the soup is simmering, make the cornbread according to instructions. When ready to eat, stir the cornbread into the soup. Yep. I said it. Put the cornbread in the soup. I know this sounds odd but it thickens the soup beautifully and adds an amazing flavor. Do you need to do this? No. It's like eating cereal without milk. You can do it but it makes more sense together. Just trust me.

With the cornbread added to it.

Eat and enjoy!

Here are the products that I use/love.

Soup pot: 
My big 6-qt pot is really nice to have. I love making soups and I double recipes a lot so that Tom and I can have leftovers, so, I need a bit, robust pot and I use mine quite a bit.


Aerogarden:
I absolutely love this thing. I got it a month and a half ago and have gotten so many amazing herbs. I am currently growing dill, parsley, chives, thyme, mint and basil. I'm horrible at growing things and this has even made a plant killer like me successful. It made a lot of sense for me because I would buy a huge bundle of herbs for like $5 and only use a small amount before it'd go bad. It may not make sense for you if you don't cook a lot because you get a LOT of herbs. You can also grow salad greens, tomatoes and peppers.

My garden after 2 months of regular harvests

The one I got above is really big (it grows 9 plants) and super high tech with the touch screen, so, if you want something like this but don't want to pay the money, there are some super affordable options like this one that grows 3 plants.

 If you're interested, definitely do some research to see which one works best for you. Feel free to message me if you have any questions. I did a lot of research before getting mine.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb bacon
• 1 large onion (any type, I used white)
• 4 cans of black-eyed peas (ideally low sodium, do not drain)
• 4 cups chopped kale
• 4 cups broth (I use vegetable broth but any type works)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp dried dill (you can use 3 tsp fresh dill if you prefer)
• 1 package cornbread mix and whatever you need to make it (I used Jiffy so below is what you need to make that)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• Cooking spray

Yields: 6 servings

Minimum Total Time: 1 hr (minimum) - 5 hrs (maximum)
Active Time: 30 min.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a lipped baking sheet with aluminum foil. Line the baking sheet with slices of bacon. It is alright if they overlap a little bit. Cook 15-30 min. depending on desired crispy level.

While the bacon cooks, dice the onion and rinse off the kale. Chop the kale.

Once the bacon is done cooking, place bacon on a paper towel lined plate and set aside.

Add a tablespoon of the bacon grease to a large soup pot and put it on medium high heat. Add the chopped onion and black pepper. Saute until soft and fragrant, 6-8 minutes.

Crumble the bacon into the pot, add the broth, kale, dill, paprika and the not drained black-eyed peas.

Turn the heat to high and allow to boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to a simmer. Cover the pot. 

Allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes and up to 5 hours, stirring occasionally.

While the soup is simmering, make the cornbread according to instructions. When ready to eat, stir the cornbread into the soup.

Eat and enjoy!