Good Ol' Southern Luck: Black-Eyed Pea Soup

MmmHmm, I'd eat that

 My mom is a southerner, to the bone.  She was born in Texas, raised outside of New Orleans, and moved to California in her early 20s, but those southern roots have stuck with her all the way, and may have rubbed off on me a little bit, too.  It's tradition to eat black-eyed peas on New Years day for good luck all year long, and even though it's after new years, this soup is still good, and it took all of 20 minutes to make.   So channel your inner Paula Dean and start serving up everyone you love a big bowl of luck.

Equipment You Will Need:

• Stock Pot

Ingredients:

• 2T Olive Oil, roughly
• 2 Leeks, white and light green parts thinly sliced (the green parts are gross, sorry)
• 2-3 Carrots, sliced into half moons (my geometry teacher would be so disappointed.  semi-circles is more technical)
• 1 14.5oz Can of Crushed Tomatoes, NOT strained.  #savortheflavor
• 1 Bunch of Kale, ripped into bite size pieces 
• Prepared Vegetable Broth, 32-48oz
• 1c - 1 1/2c Prepared Black-Eyed Peas (you can buy them in a can, or Whole Foods sells them in the refrigerator partially cooked, or you can buy them dried and cook them all.  the.  way.  talk about home made)
• Salt and Pepper

These are the ones I buy from Whole Foods - "quick cooking"

Directions:

• Heat the olive oil in your stock pock over a medium heat
• Add the leeks and the carrots. Salt and pepper those little guys, this is the base of the soup so don't be shy, give it a few good grinds of each. Saute in the pot until veggies start to soften, about 5-7 minutes
• Stir in your can of tomatoes, you want it it to get warm with the carrots and the leeks
• Add the kale, give it a stir, and let it all stew together for a few minutes, maybe 3-5
• Add the vegetable broth, as "brothy" as you like
• Add the Black-Eyed Peas
• Stir it all together, and put the lid and turn the flame down to low on so that those flavors marry in there.  Martha taught me that, "let the flavors marry" what a genius...until that little hiccup of hers
• 10 or so minutes later, ladle yourself a bowl and cozy up.  Ya done good.

  

  Some people say that the pot of the end of rainbow is full of gold and good luck, I would prefer a pot full black eyed peas, and I am pretty sure that my mama would, too.