Accidental Black Eye Pea and Ham Soup

This year's black eye pea and ham soup did not start out life that way.

I had gotten a new recipe for a black eye pea cold salad, and was PLANNING on making that, but I thought I could use canned peas instead of dry.

I was wrong, and at the very beginning, I realized this was not going to work as a salad! SO, I improvised, and made soup of of the mess I had made, and it turned out to be the best black eye pea soup I've ever concocted!

It's hoppin' john with broth, basically!!

Here's what I did:

1 yellow onion, diced
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T olive oil
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 scallions/green onions, trimmed and chopped
1 can black eye peas, rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice (do not drain!)
1 white potato, diced
1 32 oz box organic low salt chicken broth
1 bag of Uncle Ben's microwavable brown rice, microwaved per package directions
1 C diced salty ham
2 slices crisp bacon, chopped
1/2 cup green beans
1/2 chopped broccoli
Louisana style seasoning of choice
Thyme to taste


Saute the yellow onion in the olive oil until translucent. Add the peas, and saute (this is where they immediately started to "pop," and get mushy, and I knew this would not work as a salad, where one would want one's peas in tact! *LOL*)

Add the garlic, celery, and red pepper, and saute briefly. Add the can of tomatoes, potato, and the broth. Stir in the bacon, ham, rice, and seasoning.

Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, add green onions and green veggies (if I had had collards, I would have added them to the saute at the beginning....will try that next year) and allow to cook until veggies are all tender.

Serve with hot rolls, preferably on New Year's Day!

I have made a black eye pea soup on New Year's eve for many years, having left overs on New Year's day....I think that's just fine, and has not impacted by luck for better or worse!