Black-Eyed Peas & Greens
Happy New Year! I hope 2019 has been treating you well so far. Did you make resolutions? Have you broken any? 😉 I made a few including baking more, especially bread! On January 1, I made Black-Eyed Peas & Greens in my instant pot for good luck. I usually eat boring peas and greens on the first every year, but I’ve had this particular recipe bookmarked since early last year. It is full of flavor, but the peas and greens still shine. If you didn’t get your good luck food in this year, save this recipe for next year. I did that last year with the good luck piglet. It’s never too late for a little good luck!
Thanks to my trusty Instant Pot, this recipe is really easy. The time consuming part comes from soaking the peas overnight. I know, I know, why are you soaking peas when, hello, you have an Instant Pot. I scratched my head on this one, too, but finally figured out it’s probably because cooking the dried peas in the Instant Pot AND doing the rest of the recipe would add 30+ minutes. Doable, but much easier to just soak your peas overnight and go ahead with the recipe the next day. I also chose to buy a bunch of collards instead of the bag of already chopped. To save time, you can certainly use the bag, but I’m anti collard stems, so I prefer to chop them myself.
I had never used a smoked turkey leg in my cooking before. It really does add a nice, smoky flavor and was pretty cheap at my grocery store (under 5 bucks). I didn’t like having to deal with removing the meat and shredding it, so next year I think I’ll skip that step and use ham instead. That means using a veggie or chicken broth, since the first part of the recipe is making a broth from the smoked turkey leg. Really good, but I really hate dealing with meat on the bones. I’m a weirdo, I know.
Definitely a keeper recipe that I’ll make every year. It’s slightly brothy, but not enough to where I’d call it a soup. Just super good comforting food to start your year off right!
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PrintYield: 6 servings
Total Time: 1 hr 30 min + overnight soak
Black-Eyed Peas & Greens
A southern favorite, especially for good luck on New Year's Day!
Ingredients:
2 quarts water, divided
8 oz dried black-eyed peas
1 smoked turkey leg
1 small onion, quartered
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
8 cups chopped collard greens
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, add 1 quart of water and the dried black-eyed peas. Soak at room temperature for 8 to 24 hours. (I recommend the full 24.) Drain and rinse.
2. Add the turkey leg to the Instant Pot with the remaining 1 quart of water. Lock the lid into place. Select Manual, High Pressure, 35 minutes. After cooking, naturally release the pressure for 10 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure. Unlock and remove the lid.
3. Remove the turkey leg from the Instant Pot and set aside to cool. Reserve the cooking liquid in a bowl or large container. Shred the meat and set aside. (You can do steps 2 and 3 while the beans are soaking. Refrigerate meat and broth until ready to use.)
4. Add drained black-eyed peas to the Instant Pot, along with onion quarters, bay leaf, thyme, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Add greens on top of beans and pour in the reserved turkey broth. Lock the lid into place. Select Manual, High Pressure, 18 minutes. After cooking, naturally release the pressure for 5 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure. Unlock and remove the lid.
5. Remove the bay leaf. (You can also remove the onions, but they were delicious!) Stir in the reserved turkey meat and vinegar. Let simmer for a bit to warm the meat through. If peas and greens aren't done to your liking, use the Sauté setting and simmer for a few more minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and serve.
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