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Todau I am posting a dish that contains two items that I generally have not liked most of my life. It is quite amazing to see how are palet changes as we age and as we expand our understanding of food. I must thank my daughter, who now exclaims that our entire place is green and there’s nothing to eat, for getting me to try this dish. My BFF fixed this for her one day when she was sitting for me before she moved to TN. My friend’s recipe included smoked turkey, but I think my vegan version is just as good or even better. This is a very easy and delicious dish that is great over brown rice – that’s how I had it with a little vegan jalapeno corn bread (see prior post) on the side.

Here are the ingredients:

1/2 lbs os soaked black eye peas (I soaked in cool water while I was at work

1 medium bell pepper (diced)

1 medium onion (diced)

2-3 pieces of garlic (diced of minced)

1 and 1/2 c of okra (fresh or frozen)

EVOO

HSS

Fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions:

Soak the peas for 4-5 hours in cool water (you can purchase pre-soaked peas or soak in warm water for a shorter time)

Drizzle EVOO in a skillet and sautee the diced onions, bell pepper & garlic

Add peas to the mixture and add water until the black eye peas are almost covered with water

Cook Your Black Eye Peas After Soaking

Cook the peas about 30 -45 minutes on slow heat. Add HSS and fresh cracked pepper to taster. You may also add other seasonings to kick this up. I use cajun seasonings and a little cracked red pepper. After the peas have become visibly tender or close to the texture of your preference add the in the okra (the point is to keep the okra from over cooking or becoming too soft).

Add Okra to the Simmering Black Eye Peas

Cooked for another 10 – 15 minutes. Again, until the okra has the consistency that you enjoy.  I used frozen okra and I do not like soft okra so I only cook this dish about 10 minutes once I add the okra. This dish was great, especially for a person who didn’t like black eye peas and despised okra. I like for this dish to have a little kick so I add crush red peppers at the end. If I really want to “kick it up a notch” as Emeril use to say on the FoodNetwork, I add a litle hot sauce or tobascco sauce. Hey, I’m a girl that likes spicy food! Try this dish out, I’m sure you’ll like it.

We're done! Black Eye Peas w/ Okra. Yum!