Black-Eyed Pea & Collard Greens Soup

This month For The Love of Food had its third-year anniversary. Three years ago I sat in my dark kitchen photographing roasted vegetables under a stove light (with a point-and-shoot!) for a grad school project. Thankfully things have changed a lot over the years.

I just wanted to take a moment to tell you how grateful I am to this incredible blog community created by each and every one of YOU. Thank you for your encouragement, your wisdom, and for learning together these past three years.

Thank you for putting up with way too many cat stories. Thank you for laughing at my jokes and listening to my constant ramblings about how delicious vegetables are. Seriously... 'cause everyone else in my life is sick of it by now.

And for my gratitude, I give you a simple black-eyed pea and collard greens soup.

This soup is fabulous for late winter and early spring because it feels warming and satisfying without being a heavy winter stew. I love it served with a simple green salad (preferably topped with green goddess salad dressing) to round out the meal.

Black-Eyed Pea and Collard Greens Soup
Adapted from Clean Food by Terry Walters
Serves 6

Ingredients: 
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, cut into rounds
3 red potatoes, chopped
1 yam, chopped
1 bunch collard greens, stems removed
3 cups cooked black-eyed peas
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Directions:
Add the olive oil to a pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about five minutes.  Add the carrots, potatoes, yam, collards, black-eyed peas, basil, oregano, and vegetable stock.  Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat and simmer 20 - 25 minutes.

Stir in the apple cider vinegar and and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat and serve.

Recipe shared at Wellness Weekend

Gingered Sea Vegetable Salad

Let's be honest. I know that you didn't wake up this morning thinking to yourself, "I can't wait to eat a giant bowl of seaweed." (And if you did think that, you have my undying admiration.) Let's just say that I didn't wake up this morning thinking that either.

But, I know that sea vegetables are really important for my health. Seaweed is chock full of good stuff like B Vitamins, folic acid, and Vitamins C and E. It is also incredibly rich in minerals like magnesium and calcium and a good source of iodine, iron, and chlorophyll. This is especially important because over the past few years our soil has lost minerals so we aren't getting as many from our food as we used to.  As much as I hate the smell of the ocean, and especially seaweed, I'm gonna eat my sea vegetables.

Over time I have learned to enjoy nori in sushi, wakame (a dried brown seaweed used in cooking) in soups, and kombu (edible kelp) added to beans while cooking. But I never thought I would be able to enjoy arame.  Until now.

Arame grows off the coast of Japan and has a delicate texture.  Since it is typically eaten in salads, I wasn't sure if I would be able to stomach the "oceany" taste, but this salad left me pleasantly surprised.  This recipe begins with soaking the arame in water and since it grows in size, a little under two ounces will give you more than enough to feed four to six people. 

I think this salad will surprise you.  Since the arame is cooked in apple juice, it ends up tasting pleasantly sweet rather than oceany.  Combined with greens, veggies, and other herbs, this salad just ends up tasting really fresh and healthy - in a good way. 

If you are saving this recipe to serve later, keep the arame separate from the other ingredients so that the greens stay fresh.  Black-eyed peas are optional here, but they definitely add a little protein and make this more satisfying as a meal.  This salad is perfect as a light lunch or dinner.  Not only will it leave you satisfied and full of important vitamins and minerals, but it will give you full bragging rights that you not only ate seaweed and survived... but you actually enjoyed it!

Gingered Sea Vegetable Salad

Slightly adapted from Birgitte Antonsen

Serves 4 to 6

Sea Vegetable Mixture

About 2 ounces (1 bag) arame sea vegetable, soaked in cold water for 15 - 20 minutes

1 Tablespoon coconut oil 

1 1/2 cups fresh apple juice

3 Tablespoons raw agave syrup

3 Tablespoons tamari

3 Tablespoons minced garlic

2 Tablespoons minced ginger

Salad Ingredients

1 bunch of collard greens, stems removed, finely shredded

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Juice from 1 lemon

2 carrots, shredded

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 cup cooked black-eyed peas (optional)

3 green onions, diagonally sliced

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Soak arame in cold water for 15 - 20 minutes.  Rinse and strain.

In a skillet, sauté the arame with the coconut oil for about 5 minutes.  Add the apple juice and let it simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes.  Remove lid and sauté until liquid has evaporated.  Add the agave, tamari, garlic, and ginger.  Saute until liquid has evaporated.  Remove from the heat and let it cool.  

Massage collard greens with olive oil and lemon juice.  Mix salad ingredients together in a large bowl.  

Mix sea vegetables and salad mixture together just before serving.  

Summer Black-Eyed Pea and Spelt Berry Salad

Can you believe that next week is July?  Hello, where did June go?

I can't believe that one year ago around this time I was graduating with my Master's degree, freaking out about what to do with the rest of my life, and doing weird things like dying my hair platinum blonde.  At home.  Using a box of 7-year old hair bleach.

Ladies (and lads), let me share a lesson with you that I hope you never have to experience first-hand:  if you are a natural brunette never, ever try to bleach your hair platinum blonde at home.  (Spoiler alert:  it doesn't turn a nice shade of platinum blonde; instead it's a nice mix of bright yellow and orange.)

Or, if you've already completed that step and learned by mistake, then quickly head to a salon and have them fix it.  Definitely don't try to dye it back to brown at home 'cause your stressed out and over-processed hair won't absorb the dye and instead of brown it will become grey.  And then you will spend the first few months after your 25th birthday with hair the color of Richard Gere's.  I'm not kidding.  It was not pretty.

So let's just say I'm really looking forward to summer with my natural brown hair this year.  And if I ever dye it again on my own?  You can be sure that the only thing touching this head is henna.

One of my favorite parts of summer is eating outside and I think a hearty go-to picnic salad is absolutely necessary this time of year.  For the bulk of this salad I chose spelt berries and black eyed peas because they both hold up well and don't get mushy when mixed with the dressing.  This is a very simple salad that can easily be adapted for some fun variations.  I used produce that was all available from my garden, but as the summer heats up some shredded zucchini or fresh corn would be great additions. 

Summer Black-Eyed Pea and Spelt Berry Salad
Serves 4

1 cup black-eyed peas
1 cup spelt berries
5 carrots, shredded
3 radishes, shredded
5 green onions, chopped
1 cup rainbow chard, shredded
1 cup arugula, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
juice from one lemon
1/4 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons mint, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons basil, finely chopped
Freshly-ground black pepper and sea salt to taste

The black-eyed peas do not need to be soaked before cooking.  Place them in a large saucepan, cover with about 4 cups of water and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until peas are soft and easily chewable.  (This can take 20 - 45 minutes depending on your peas.)  Drain and set aside.

While the peas are cooking, add the spelt berries to a separate saucepan and cover with about 4 cups of water.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until tender, about 45 minutes.  Drain the berries and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and herbs and set aside.  Add the carrots, radishes, green onions, chard, and arugula to a large bowl. Add the black-eyed peas and spelt berries when ready (they don't have to cool before being mixed together).  Add in the dressing and mix well.  Add black pepper and sea salt to taste.  Refrigerate and serve cold.