Collard Green & Black-eyed Pea Soup

Finally, the weekend is in sight and there might be a moment of relaxation. I can't wait.

At New Years', I cooked up a huge amount of fresh Black-eyed Peas and used some in both these Southern Egg Rolls and this Good Luck Dip. I still had quite a bit of them left, so I froze them in a Ziploc bag and decided to give myself some time to find another way to use them.

Somehow, I came across this soup and it looked really inviting. My kids like collard greens and have told me that they are easier to chew than kale. Collard greens are something that I have learned to like too and so I decided to give this soup a try.

I didn't use the bacon because I didn't have any and don't really like cooking it. The soup did not lack flavor at all. It was delicious. It was one of those nights when my kids just gobbled it down and I couldn't believe my eyes. I was so happy. No bribery had to happen to get them to eat this dinner.

The leftovers have made for a couple of really great lunches for me this week. I love it when that happens.

Recipe for Collard Green & Black-eyed Pea Soup
* I just topped the soup with a little shredded cheese
* I omitted the bacon

Good Luck Dip

This is actually New Year's Good Luck Dip. I saw it on Ezra Pound Cake a day or two before New Year's and loved this twist on collard greens and beans.

I wasn't going to share it here since it has been a few weeks since New Years Day, but it was so delicious and I figured we could all use some good luck, probably more than just on the first day of the year. You can't really go wrong with dip and this one has some healthy stuff in it.

This dip starts out with a little bit of bacon. You cook a sweet onion, red bell pepper and then add the collard greens, and cook them down until they are nice and wilted. You might be thinking that collard greens can't fit into a dip. But they can. Make sure you finely chop the collard greens. To lighten this dip up a little, I used nonfat cream cheese and nonfat Greek yogurt. I was actually kinda surprised by how yummy this dip was. I also added some black-eyed peas since we had this dip the same day as the Southern Egg Rolls.

I used whole wheat pita chips as my main dipper, but I think it would taste great with veggie sticks too. Since it was sort of a New Year's party for our family, I splurged and bought some Frito dips, so they could use those to dip into this dip.

This was a great recipe and we loved how it turned out.

Recipe for Good Luck Dip
* I used non-fat cream cheese
* I used nonfat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream
* I added some cooked black-eyed peas

Southern Egg Rolls

I know I've said this before, but you need to know that I am not a true Southerner. Therefore, I cannot be held accountable for things that I say or make that have the word "Southern" in front of them.
I did find this recipe on a blog that is written by a real Southerner, so, well, so, that is that.

I saw this recipe a couple of days before New Year's and loved this twist on the traditional black eyed peas and collard greens, that people eat around here on New Year's to bring good luck for the coming year.

I love anything that isn't traditional and adds a little flair to the ordinary, so I decided to make these on New Year's Day.
They are so good that I think you should make them any day.

I decided to bake these egg rolls because I have baked egg rolls before and you can still get a nice crunchy shell, without all the extra fat. Plus, being a true non-Southerner, I don't fry things.

I am here to tell you that these little guys taste great baked. And with a few changes.
But, if you feel like frying them, I'm sure they taste really yummy that way too.
They also tasted great the next day, cold, straight out of the refrigerator.


Recipe for Southern Egg Rolls
* I used less bacon than called for
* I added a large red bell pepper to the onion and cooked them together
* I used a combination of monterey jack & mozzarella cheese and used 1 1/2 cups instead of 2 cups


* this recipe calls for frying the egg rolls, but I have made egg rolls in the past and decided to bake them instead.
preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
Prepare the egg rolls as you would for frying, but lay them on the prepared baking sheet, folded side down.
Spray the tops with cooking spray.
Bake for about 18 minutes or until the outside is golden brown and crispy.