Mess of Greens

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soups and stews

Mess of Greens Soup

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 So, here you have it… literally a recipe for a “mess of greens.” It’s about time, right? 
You may have tried some of my other New Year’s Day recipes (see pickled peas, black eyed pea hummus or lucky soup) but unlike all of those recipes that focus on black eyed peas, greens play a starring role in this year’s dish to bring us all luck and money in 2015. I was lucky enough to have a friend bring me a gallon bag of mustard and turnip greens from her winter garden yesterday, PLUS a gallon bag of shelled pecans (y’all. aren’t I so lucky?!?) and I’d had some pretty delish turnip green soup at Turnrow books a couple of weeks back, so it seemed like a no-brainer. My dish is pretty standard compared to the other ones you find on the interweb, except I gave my broth a spicy kick with some red pepper flakes, and use bacon AND ham (why choose just one?). Hope you enjoy!

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Lucky Soup with Black Eyed Peas, Greens, and Bacon

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By now, y’all know that I’m not going to let a New Year’s Day pass without eating Black eyed peas and greens in SOME form or fashion for luck and money in the New Year… I’ve made pickled peas, black eyed pea hummus, and this year, I combined the two good-luck foods with pork (a German good-luck food) into a spicy, warm soup. I had some friend over…one of whom asked, “wait, what’s the deal with this soup? is it really eaten for luck?”
This gave me the chance to explain what little I know about the peas… but thankfully I’d read this post about the history beforehand so I knew a little more than past years.
In short, the peas are tied to southern history… they were introduced to the south from West or North Africa and are an ancient food eaten on that continent and also across Asia. Either way you tell it, eating BEP on New Year’s Day dates back to the Civil War. Black eyed peas are undoubtedly an important ingredient in some soul-food dishes, so while there are multiple stories about WHY we eat the peas (from the White Southern Community AND the African American Southern community) exist, I think that the history of BEP as a soul-food staple gives credence to that legend. The way the history goes, the only thing many slaves had to eat on the first day of January were these peas because they were one of the few crops left in the winter fields since the Union armies and Slave-owners thought of them as livestock feed. That day in 1863,  the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, outlawing slavery and these peas were consumed. From then on, they’ve been considered good luck for the future.
Thinking that BEPs are tied not only to good luck but also to a major milestone for freedom and justice in our country makes me even more committed to eating them and looking ahead on the year and what it can bring! Read on for yet another way to have your luck (and for a generally warm, hearty soup for winter time!)
Lucky Soup
What you need:
1 bag  of dried black eyed peas soaked overnight (or 2-3 cans)
4-6 Cups of washed and chopped greens like turnip or/and kale
one jalepeno, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 green pepper, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
3-5 strips of bacon
2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
salt, pepper
1 /2 Tablespoon of ground thyme
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
Optional: A splash or two of red wine or balsamic vinegar

 

What to Do:
If you’re using dried black eyed peas, the first step begins the night before you plan to make the soup…dump the peas out and sift through them for any beans that have been eaten through or are a darker or redder brown… i don’t think they’ll hurt you  but it’s better to get rid of them in the beginning. Once that’s done, rinse them in a collander and then soak the dried peas in enough water to cover them and then a little bit more. The peas will soak up the water and hydrate, making them soft enough to cook and eat. If you use canned or frozen peas you can skip both of these first steps… and if you forget (heaven forbid!) to overnight soak your peas, then you can do a “quick soak” by putting them in a pot of salted, boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Honestly, I worried that I hadn’t used enough water in my overnight soak, so I did about a 2 minute boil of the peas anyway… the “quick soak” method doesn’t really hurt anything, BUT, beware, it does mean that you’ll end up with more half-peas or peas without the thin casing that holds the two halved together since the boiling water tends to rub that off more easily.
Once your peas are softened or softening, it’s time to cook the bacon! Pork has some sort of lucky significance for Germans, plus bacon just goes SO WELL with peas and turnip greens that it makes sense that we’d cook our veggies in all that flavor. Put the bacon in your pot and cook until brown…
While that’s happening, take the time to dice up your vegetables. Celery, onion, garlic, green bell pepper, and jalepeno pepper were what I used, but you could substitute red bell pepper and chipotle pepper if you wanted a litte bit different look and flavor here..

TIP:  did you know that whole jalepeno peppers freeze really well? If your garden grows more than you can handle, or you just accidentally buy too many at the store, you can drop them in a plastic bag and freeze them until you need them! These came from my aunt’s garden, and thanks to her I have all the peppers I need for a year!

 

Ok, so your veggies are chopped and your bacon has crisped in the pot. Take the bacon out and put it on a paper towel to cool for a bit. Then, dump in your onions into the bacon grease in the bottom of your pot and cook until their translucent.

Add in the garlic and cook briefly until tender, then add in the other diced vegetables. Stir them and cook them until they are a little tender and add in your salt, pepper, thyme, and red pepper flakes. (I gave my approximate seasoning measures above, but I was being conservative this time. feel free to liberally season this soup to your liking!)

Add in your peas, your canned tomatoes and tomato paste.

While that’s all simmering a bit, you’ll want to prepare your greens if you haven’t already.

TIP: I like to clean mine ahead of time and then store them after rinsing them and pulling the leaves off of the stalks (because those kale and turnip green stalks can be TOUGH) in a damp paper towel in a large zip-lock bag. This keeps the greens from wilting and can keep greens (and lettuces, too) fresh for nearly a week. If you haven’t prepped your greens in advance, rinse them thoroughly and pull the leaves from the stalk, then chop or rip up the greens into smaller pieces.

Dump those into the pot (and if you’re adding vinegar or wine, now is the time to do it) and stir around until everything’s all mixed together and let simmer on low for at least one hour so all the flavors mix together. I cooked mine for about 1.5 hours, then let it sit for another 2 hours, then reheated it and tasted for salt and pepper.

 

Serve it with bread and a side salad and you’ve got LUCK for the whole year! Happy new Year!