soup success!!
January 4, 2011 Slowly, I’m learning how to make soup. This is exciting! Last year, I made a recipe from the Clean Food cookbook for Black Eyed Peas + Collard greens. Apparently, black eyed peas are supposed to bring good luck for the new year. Somehow, I just learned this last year.
Today, I was in the mood for soup with both collard greens + soaked black eyed peas on hand. I have seen recipes for black eyed pea + collar soup before, but wanted to put my own spin on things.
Chris + I love love love Kale. We eat a full head of kale around 3 times per week or more. We’re not getting sick of it, by any means, but sometimes a change is nice. I’ve only eaten collard greens a handful of times, but thought it would hold up really well in a soup. I’m sure kale would work as well!
If you want to save money [but not time] boil your beans. I’ve only purchased about 4 cans of beans in the past 3-4 months. I try to save on high quality ingredients anywhere I can, and dried beans is one easy way.
rinsed + soaked for 8hrs + rinsed + boiled with kombu for ~1.5hrs + drained + rinsed
I decided to give this a punch of garlic and used 5 cloves.
I hate when you bust open the garlic and find a million tiny cloves. Luckily, the other side of the garlic had nice large cloves.
Black Eyed Peas, Collard Greens, + Tomato Soup vegan! [yields ~6-8 servings]
- 6c veggie stock
- 2T olive oil
- 2 stalks celery, sliced thinly
- 1 medium/large onion, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bunch collard greens, washed + chopped into strips
- 3c cooked black eyed peas [or 2 cans]
- 28oz whole peeled tomatoes with juice
- 2t thyme
- 1.5t parsley
- 2t oregano
- 1t basil
- pinch of cayenne
- salt + pepper to taste
- In a large pot, add olive oil, over medium heat.
- Once heated, add chopped onion and celery, until the onion has browned [~10min]. Be patient and stir every minute or so.
- Stir in garlic, thyme, parsley, oregano, basil, s+p and cook for about 30sec, stirring constantly. Go easy on the salt to start and season more along the way.
- Add in peeled tomatoes with the juices + veggie stock, crushing the tomatoes with your hands as you add them in.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat to med-low, add beans + cover with a lid.
- Simmer at least 30min, stirring occasionally.
- Taste + adjust seasoning, adding more salt + pepper if necessary.
- Add a few shakes of cayenne, if you want a little heat, and stir.
- Simmer 5 more minutes, and taste again.
- Add collard greens, stir + cover to simmer for 5min.
- Serve it up with crusty bread!
*I used a low sodium veggie stock and ending up adding approximately 1.5t salt, in total. I used around 1/2t ground black pepper and a few shakes of cayenne. It had a nice kick but not too hot.
This meal was hearty, but lacking healthy fat. I solved that by adding avocado on top + toast on the side for some carby goodness. Another idea would be to add toasted pumpkin seeds. You could also toast up a piece of bread, spread some plain almond/cashew/pecan butter on top, cut into cubes, and throw on top of the soup. Too bad I just thought of that now!!
It was SO hard to move this bowl of soup to the lightbox without splashing up the sides of the bowl. Despite the splashed bowl, I love love loved this soup!! It was slightly thick from the addition of the tomatoes and I loved the crunchy collards. There was a lot of herby flavor + garlic without being overwhelming. A definite keeper!
A few updates:
- I have a new Photography page to give you quick access to my photography 101 posts
- The VFF Photos page is updated – submit your photos if you want!
- My latest header design is now up at the lovely Liane’s blog, Please Bring Wine – Totally love her blog name!
- Be sure to check out the fudgy treat I made yesterday!!
Next thing to update is my recipe page. It has been too long!!
Tomorrow.
I.must.get.back.to.the.pool.
Ashley
Recipes, collard greens, garlic, soup, tomatoes
Reader Comments (60)
Love the idea to add toast and nut butteer on top :)
i love opening garlic or just throwing it in the oven & roasting it.
That soup sounds and looks amazing, especially with the sleek avocado on top :D. Hope to try it soon!
Ooooh, the idea of avocado with toast on top of this just sends it over the edge! Looks great, as always.
That soup looks really good! I have those beans on hand - I always just forget to soak them!
Mmmm, looks fantastic!! I love adding avocado on top of my soups.
I love the addition of tomato to this soup. Tomato-y soups are so good!
Do you mean you want the onions browned or truly caramelized? I'm pretty sure caramelized takes a lot longer than 10 min. Just a heads up. :-)
I love hoppin John! And your version looks scrumptious, Ash!
This soup looks delicious! I haven't had black beans in ages :)
nothing is better than homemade soup. really, nothing. and three heads of kale a week..nice!
I'm a big big fan of soup. I make soup about once a week.
That looks incredible, especially with the avocado on top! I need to make more soup this year :)
ohhh a post about swimming would be fanntastic! all the bloggers voluntarily post mile splits etc, but not so much info on swimming. I recently started swimming, and while i can do all the basic strokes, i sometimes dont really know what to do for a workout ya know? also when i freestyle i have to breathe more often did this happen to you ( like every stroke) and then with practice get better? just curious!
PS that soup looks good and i dont even like collards!
I DEFINITELY have to try that soup as soon as possible. I've been on an avocado kick lately, even topping my toast with it. Mmmm!
I've never topped my soup with avocado, but it makes sense. Alright, next time, I'm trying it.
Love the new header on her blog, too.
Looks fantastic!!
Jen
that header is BEAUTIFUL! and i love love love the soup idea...especially with added avocado. sounds like a bowl of warm goodness to me!
The soup looks great! I've never tried collards, how similar to kale or another leafy green are they?
Your soup looks so good! I never would have thought of putting black eyed peas into soup with collards but it looks like a winner.
The soup looks awesome.
I have been craving soup lately, and this one looks fantastic! I love the idea of the traditional southern new years food's in one big pot!
This looks so good! Totally making it for Thursday's soup night.
I do have one question though, in the linked post about kombu you say that only a small piece is needed when boiling beans. How small of a piece? Like, and inch in length or more than that? I've never used it before but anything to aid in digestion of my favorite source of protein is great in my book.
You beat me to the bunch, woman! I was trying to come up with a southern collard green and black- eyed pea soup, but I just couldn't get the flavors right. I don't know southern cooking very well :-) Check out my recent posts about the ordeal!
that soup looks great! I have some leftover black eyed peas that I need to use!
ha too funny, I've been planning to make soup with the black-eyed peas I didn't get around to using on New Year's and I also have kale. Totally going to have to make this!
this looks delicious! i still haven't had black eyed peas this year - I think this will be the perfect way to get them in.
happy new year girl! xoxo!
That looks so warm and comforting. It's windy and cold here right now. Send some?
Mmm that soup looks sooo tasty! I'm having a roasted tomato soup for lunch, and i can't wait! :)
This looks delicious!
I don't know about anyone else, but I think soup ALWAYS tastes better the second day. Even if you make it in a slow cooker, the flavors need like, a full night to meld together before they are just right!
Yum!
Jes
the new headers is a beauty!!
Beautiful!
I can't help but think that the girls would be creeped out by the "eyes" on the peas :)
Hope you are having a good day!
That looks so warming and delicious. I have been all about cooking up my own beans too.
I kind of have a weird fear of putting greens into soup. Something about slimy, mushy, green stuff floating around just doesn't appeal to me. I need to get past it though, because it's silly! This collard/black eyed pea soup sounds wonderful and I want to make it!
Your soup looks fantastic! I just made black eyed peas and turnip greens for my "good luck" meal on New Year's Day. It was the first time ever using dried peas. They taste SO much better! I'm never going back to the mushy canned variety again! Love the addition of the avocado...both for color and for flavor!
I love making soups, they are so easy and budget friendly! Yours looks great, thanks for sharing!
Lovely photos as always, Ashley! And my favorite one is of the avocado in the soup. Avocado is my favoriteee.
Thank you dear. :) Wish you were here to enjoy it with me!
I totally agree!
I can totally see what you mean. I think spinach would be way worse. The collards hold a bit of their crunch and definitely are not slimy. If you do try the soup, maybe start by just adding half of the collards bunch to ease yourself into the idea. :)
Ohhh that is too funny!! Cannellini beans would be the perfect swap! :) I'm pretty sure you would love this.
You are SO right. The soup was really good on day 1, but today, it was so much better!!
If you lived nearby, you + Dave would have an open invitation to dinner!
Happy New Year to you too!! I've missed you while you were away...we must phone chat soon! xo
I will definitely check them out!
You will need about a 1" strip per cup of dry beans. The bag of kombu will probably run $6-7, but will last a really long time. There are at least 10-12 strips that are like 6-7" long each. It definitely helps and adds a bit of flavor too! Just remember to pick it out after they're done cooking. :)
I think raw, they have a slightly bitter taste, but it goes away when cooked. They're not as earthy as kale and the leaves are thicker. I would think if you like kale, you would like collards. Another great way to cook them is sauteing in a pan with oil + a lot of garlic.
Thanks so much Heather!!
Thanks Tracey!
Heather Eats Almond Butter makes a delicious sounding avocado wrap, with banana + peanut butter! I definitely need to try it, but thought I would pass the idea along to you too!