Black-Eyed Peas with Spinach and Cornbread

This week we are cooking "Peasant food"

over at I Heart Cooking Clubs.  I thought

this black-eyed pea and spinach dish looked

fairly rustic so I chose that out of

"Falling Cloudberries" by Tessa Kiros.

I like black-eyed peas especially over

cornbread, but I didn't expect to like

this dish as much as I did.  I think

besides adding fresh spinach which kicks

up the vitamins and nutrients in this

dish, it was the toppings that really

added the final wow factor to this recipe. 

Lemon squeezed on just about anything is

amazing but I never thought to use that 

and Italian parsley as a topper for the

peas.  It gave a wonderful freshness to

the black-eyed peas and spinach. The 

onion and tomatoes added a great crunch

and color. Even my daughter Bay loved

them albeit sans cornbread.  This I

don't get!  Cornbread is one of my most

perfect foods.  You can have it for

breakfast, slathered with jam or with

warm maple syrup.  It goes with soups,

stews or covered with beans.  Sigh....I

guess I will ever get cornbread haters. 

Here is a link to my Sweet Cornbread.

Black-eyed Peas and Spinach

(printable copy)

1 small onion, diced

1 tsp. fine salt

2 small tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped

2 lemons, cut into quarters

1 1/2 cups black-eyed peas, soaked overnight

6 cups spinach leaves, firmly packed

extra-virgin olive oil, to serve

Put the chopped onion in a bowl, cover with water

and add salt.  Let stand for about 30 minutes, then

rinse and drain.  Put onion, lemons, tomato and parsley

in small serving dishes.

In the meantime, rinse the peas and put them in a large

saucepan and cover with cold water.  Bring them to a boil

and skim any foam from the surface with a slotted spoon.

Drain the peas, add fresh water and bring back to a boil.

Reduce the heat a little and cook for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or

until peas are soft but not mushy, adding water as needed.

Toward the end of the cooking time add salt and spinach.

Cook a few more minutes until spinach wilts.  

Serve over cornbread, adding onion, tomato, lemon and 

parsley to serve.  Top with extra virgin olive oil.

*to put my own spin on this dish I added:

1 garlic clove, minced  and

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

I am having so much fun cooking along with
IHCC.  The themes are really helping me look
for recipes that I might not have made other-
wise.  This one for instance.  I probably 
wouldn't have made it.  It didn't look like
anything spectacular but once I tried it....
this will be a dish I will make for my family
for years to come. It's great served with a 
rotisserie chicken. I also think it would be
fine to use tinned peas if you were in a hurry.
Just add the spinach and toppings and you will
be ready for a hearty weeknight dinner!

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