Southern Black Eyed Peas Recipe with Collard Greens (2024)

FAQs

Why do southerners eat black-eyed peas and collard greens? ›

Black-eyed peas and collard greens are often a go-to dish during New Year's celebrations because they're said to bring luck and prosperity. The tradition has a long history; one of the first records is found in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism.

Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens

Many people save this dish to ring in the new year, and, if that's the case, a wine pairing will come in handy. Murray recommends “Prosecco, Rioja Joven or Albariño. These wines will pair with the salty, smoky, rich, earthy flavors of this dish.”

A little bit of table or seasoned salt, some pepper, a pinch of sugar, a drop of vinegar, and something spicy like cayenne or red pepper flakes will help level up the flavor of your canned greens.

Open the can of collard greens and drain the liquid. Rinse the greens thoroughly under cold water to remove any excess salt.

The pot likker is quite nutritious and delicious, and contributes to the comfort-food aspect of the dish. After the American Civil War, destitute white Southerners began eating collard greens and found what African-Americans had known for ten generations: they are delicious, and nutritious!

Collard greens were one of the few vegetables that African-Americans were allowed to grow for themselves and their families back in slavery time. Even after the Africans were emancipated in the late 1800s cooked greens were a comfort in the African-American culture.

Collard greens are a traditional pairing with black-eyed peas. Slow-cooked with a bit of bacon or ham hock, they bring a smoky, earthy flavor to the meal.

What's the difference between Hoppin' John and black-eyed peas? Hoppin' John has black-eyed peas in it, but it also has other ingredients. In this recipe, the black-eyed peas are stewed with onion, garlic, celery, and a ham hock, similar to how some Southern-style black-eyed peas would be cooked.

Companions for peas are bush beans, bole beans, carrots, celery, chicory, corn, cucumber, eggplant, parsley, early potato, radish, spinach, strawberry, sweet pepper, tomatoes and turnips. Do not plant peas with chives, gladiolus, grapes, late potatoes or onions.

This might seem like an unusual addition if you're new to making collard greens, but the vinegar adds a welcome tangy note that brightens the dish and balances out the salty, savory flavors. A tablespoon of sugar also helps balance out the greens' potential bitterness.

What takes the bitterness out of collard greens? ›

In the case of collard greens, baking soda's utility is threefold, serving as a flavor enhancer, a tenderizer, and a color protector. Baking soda is an alkali salt possessing the tenderizing and flavor-enhancing properties of regular salt.

Season with garlic powder, onion powder, sugar, kosher salt, and black pepper. Cook until heated throughout and season additionally to taste. Serve warm and enjoy!

When Sherman's troops overtook and raided the food supplies of the Confederate South, Union soldiers regarded as them as animal feed and left them behind in the fields. The Confederates, however, survived by eating this crop and considered themselves lucky to have had them and, so, the peas became symbolic of luck.

Collard greens were just one of a few select vegetables that enslaved African-Americans were allowed to grow and harvest for themselves and their families. This leafy vegetable is now considered a soul-food staple.

Specifically in the South, eating a bowl of black-eyed peas and collard greens has become the standard on New Year's Day. Many celebrating the new year might just be going along with the offered dishes without the context.

Today, the tradition of eating black-eyed peas for the New Year has evolved, as many traditions do, into a number of variations – but most hold the theme of luck and prosperity that harkens back to the Civil War days when people felt lucky to have black-eyed peas to eat and help them survive the cold, harsh winter ...