It is official!
It's peak soup season and I am sharing another recipe from my childhood. A hearty black eyes peas soup with vegetables served with home-made sour dough bread.
Have you ever wondered why they are called black eyed peas when they are actually beans? Do you know the story? Let me know in the comments!
Black-eyed peas are incredibly nutrient dense, packing plenty of fiber and protein into each serving. They are rich in copper and even more importantly, a great source of folate, a B vitamin essential for healthy cell growth and function (hello my soon to be moms or pregnant queens creating a human being=), but also promoting healthy hair growth.
It is also a crucial vitamin for methylation which is a biochemical reaction that regulates many systems in our body (DNA repair, estrogen or neurotransmitter production, fat metabolism, energy production, etc.) So yes, it is pretty crucial to have optimal levels.
And here is one more fun fact before I jump to the recipe. There are certain groups that are more vulnerable to folate deficiency:
young children
pregnant women
people with medication like metformin and birth control pills
people with liver disease (or higher alcohol consumption)
people with malabsorption problems (celiac disease)
Ok enough of my nerd mode and let's get cooking!
INGREDIENTS:
1 onion
1 celery stick
4 garlic cloves
2 cups black eyed peas
2 parsnips
3 large carrots
half cauliflower head
2 cups curly kale leaves
2-3 bay leaves
4 whole black pepper
2tsp salt
2,5L boiling water
Salt and pepper to taste
I like to start preparing this dish the evening before. Put 2 cups of black eyed peas in to a pan and cover with water (2 L adding 1tsp of salt). Let it sit overnight. This will speed up the cooking time if you don't have a pressure cooker. Oh and yes, you will need a big pot and this soup will be definitely enough to feed a family of 4 for 2 days. Otherwise half the amount of beans and water if you are not planning to cook ahead.
This soup will also freeze very well.
The next day, chop the onion, celery and garlic finely. Add a splash of olive oil (or a bit of water if cooking oil free) onto a hot pan, add the veggies and simmer until your onion turnes golden.
Add chopped parsnips, carrots and the cauliflower florets. Strain your black eyed peas and add them to the vegetables, pour 2,5L of boiled water over it. Add your bay leaves and the whole black pepper grains. Add 2 teaspoons of salt at this stage otherwise your beans will end up having pretty bland taste.
Turn down the heat and let it simmer with a lid half on. Keep an eye on your water, you want to keep the beans and the veggies covered in liquid.
I always like to start with less water and add some while cooking (always adding boiling water not cold) to prevent diluting the soup too much. I like the soup nice and thick.
Our grandmas used to say, "the soup needs to be so thick, the spoon stands up right in it". That's how thick it needs to be=).
Cook until your beans are soft and tender (about 45min). If you did not soak the beans overnight you will need to cook them much longer.
To increase thickness, I like to blend part of the soup with a hand blender. Make sure you take your black pepper grains and your bay leaves out before blending. Don't overdo it, you want to keep nice chunks of veggies and the beans in.
At the end, add your fresh kale and let it wilt for a minute. No need to cook it.
We would eat the soup with home made short thick noodles called "slíže". Udon noodles remind me of them a bit. To be honest, I cannot be bothered of making them from the scratch (unless this is my weekend cooking plan). I make some pasta instead or I serve the soup with fresh, home made sour-dough bread.
And as always, if you give this recipe a try, let me know in the comments. I am curious!
ENJOY!
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