Cajun Stewed Black Eyed Peas and Greens

Healthy Vegetarian Black Eyed Pea Recipe

Cajun Stewed Black Eyed Peas and Greens

**Advance Prep Recommended** The dried black eyed peas should be soaked overnight, but there are other options (see notes!).

Simple with over the top texture and flavor in Cajun Stewed Black Eyed Peas with Greens; a one pot meal featuring the "holy trinity," Cajun seasoning, tomatoes, okra and collard greens. This recipe is vegetarian, vegan and easily gluten free. *See notes for using unsoaked peas and/or for cutting down on cook time using precooked or canned peas instead of dried.

There's a bit of overlap with prep and cook time in this recipe, so I lumped prep/cook all into one hour. The one hour time frame still allows time to whip up some rice or cornbread!

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine American

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword Black Eyed Peas, Collard Greens, Dinner, Stewed Black Eyed Peas

Total Time 1

Servings - 6 Servings

Calories 244kcal

Author Traci York

Ingredients

1 cup (185 grams) Dried Black Eyed Peas soaked overnight, *see notes if using precooked black-eyed peas or unsoaked dry peas
1 1/2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil like olive oil
1 cup (120 grams) Red Onion about 1 medium
1 cup (125 grams) Green Bell Pepper about 1 medium
1/2 cup (75 grams) Celery about 2 sticks
1 tablespoon Garlic minced, about 2 large cloves
1 tablespoon Cajun Seasoning spice blend, add an additional 1/2 Tbs for extra spicy
1 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
3 1/2 cups (785 grams) Water
1 1/2 cups (411 grams) Fire Roasted Tomatoes one can
4 cups (220 grams) Collard Greens destemmed, chopped into bite size pieces and packed, about 1 bunch
3 cups (275 grams) Okra fresh or frozen, if frozen this is 1, 10 oz bag
1/2 Lemon juiced
Parsley chopped for garnish

Instructions

In a 5 quart stock pot or Dutch oven, heat oil to shimmering. Add the onion, bell pepper and celery and cook for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally on medium-low or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for one minute, until fragrant. Stir in cajun seasoning, salt, and tomato paste, stirring to coat the veggies for one minute. Add the dried (and soaked - see note** for unsoaked) black-eyed peas, and water. Bring to a boil, then turn down to low to simmer. Place a lid on the pot and cook for about 40 minutes OR until the peas are tender.
If using precooked black eyed peas, use about 2 cups / 260 grams, drain peas, reduce water to about 1 cup, skip cooking for 40 minutes and continue on with the recipe.
To the black eyed peas, stir in the tomatoes and all their juices, collard greens (in two batches if needed), and okra. Cook, lid on, on low for about 15-20 minutes, OR until the okra and collards are tender. Stir in a squeeze of lemon juice. Taste for seasoning adjustment (collards and black eyed peas can take on quite a bit of salt. I tend to add a pinch more than the 1 tsp here, but adjust to your taste). Garnish with parsley.
Share with brown or white rice or cornbread!
Store in a lidded container for up to three days in the refrigerator, or up to three weeks in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the fridge and gently rewarm stovetop.

Notes

*To reduce cook time: Use canned or precooked Slow Cooked Black-Eyed Peas in this recipe - about 2 C. The cook time can be reduced by about 40 minutes! After cooking the veggies and spices and adding only 1 C of water, stir in the cooked black eyed peas then continue with the recipe.

If Using Unsoaked Dry Black Eyed Peas: simply simmer the peas about 10 minutes longer, until tender, before adding the tomatoes, collards and okra.

Fresh or Frozen Okra? Use fresh or frozen okra in this recipe. If using frozen, sort out the tough ends and discard them.

Nutrition