Meatless Monday Recipe: Hoppin' John

I know somebody has to be wondering how on earth to make Hoppin' John without ham hocks. Here you go. Remember to play blues music or southern church choir music. Practice your southern accents. Look up the southern states on a map and talk about the missionaries there.

2 pkgs frozen black eyed peas or 4 Cups cooked black eyed peas (soaked dried b.e.p. overnight, simmer in the morning for a few hours until tender. Proceed with recipe. I avoid canned b.e.p. just because of the salt content)
3 Cups veggie broth (can use water)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large onion, finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 rib celery, minced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Teaspoon dried thyme
pinch cayenne pepper
fresh ground black pepper to taste
hot cooked rice (I use brown)

Toppings: chopped tomato
chopped green onions
shredded cheese

Cook black eyed peas in water until tender (15-20minutes) Do not add salt yet as it makes beans tough. Skip this cooking step if you cooked dried peas already. Drain and reserve the liquid

Saute onions, garlic, and celery in olive oil and butter until slightly caramelized (10-15 minutes). Add spices. Stir this mixture into the peas with enough liquid so it can simmer. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring every so often. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve peas over rice and let everyone pick their own toppings. Pass Tabasco around for those who want it spicy. Serve with corn bread and collard greens.

Collard Greens:

1 bunch of fresh green like collard, kale, mustard greens, turnip greens.

Rinse the greens well. Cut out the tough center rib of each leaf. Roll the leaves up and start slicing so the greens look like ribbons. Stick in a large pot and cover with water and a little salt. Bring to boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook anywhere from 10 30 minutes until the greens are tender (I prefer mine less tender than really tender. Its a personal preference.

Drain the greens and reserve the liquid for broth for another use. To be really southern, sprinkle you greens with vinegar and a but of Tabasco or hot sauce.

This Week's Menu at Scarehaircare

Ooh! Good idea. I will spare you the non-veggie days, here is the rest of the menu:

Meatless Monday: Hoppin' John over rice, collard greens, cornbread with honey butter
Family Night Treat: Peach Cobbler and vanilla ice cream

Wednesday: Spaghetti with homemade Mushroom Marinara , green salad with chickpeas, tomatoes, olives and feta, crusty bread

Friday: make-your-own-pizzas. Magherita pizza for me (I might throw on some eggplant, too.)

This Week's Menu--for Heather

Just to show how flexible we are around here (the blog), I thought I'd show what is on the menu at my house this week.
Heather--I saw your comment on the previous post--you can definitely play here!

Monday: Veggie Calzones (I may throw some turkey pepperoni into a couple for the carnivores-maybe not)
Tuesday--canned soup (I work on Tuesday and heating up soup is about all my husband can do with consistent successful results--last week he made gardenburgers and used every skillet I own)
Wednesday--Indian Cashew Chicken--from this month's Cooking Light
Thursday--(the other day I work--so leftovers from Wednesday)
Friday--Black Bean Burgers
Saturday--Pumpkin Waffles and scrambled eggs
Sunday--Cheesy Potato and Cauliflower chowder

Anyone want to share their menu for the week?

Some things to try...

I have been perusing around doing my usual blog reading today and came across this recipe for vegetarian eggplant meatballs. The comments from people that tried it said some of their kids were unaware that it was even meatless, so I thought I would pass it along, but didn't want to infringe on any copyright things, so there is the link instead.
Also, a favorite recipe of ours here that is REALLY easy and vegetarian is Crash Hot Potatoes. I saw in on Pioneer Woman cooks and we all love it. Again with the link.

Gardenburgers

I'm not big into "fake meat" but I have always loved Gardenburgers. My grocery stopped stocking them, so I'm going to have to look for another place to shop. I have tried making them in the past, and been not incredibly impressed with the results. Last week I wanted to try again.

I found this recipe and they turned out wonderful! They tasted really close to the original. I made a couple of changes to the recipe. I left out the cottage cheese because we didn't have any. I also decreased the amount of mushrooms and added some black beans to make up for it. I doubled the recipe and made 10 patties. Yum.

Keep the recipes coming!

Keep Your Breasts out of My Phish Food

Members of PETA: Certifiably Insane? You be the judge.

"PETA wrote a letter to [Ben & Jerry's] company founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield on Tuesday, telling them cow's milk is hazardous and that milking them is cruel."

As opposed to NOT milking them? Has anyone else had mastitis? :)

Creamy Pasta with Spring Vegetables

8 oz thin fresh asparagus spears
8 oz baby portobello or medium white button mushrooms
1 large red bell pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 Tbsp fresh basil leaves, snipped
8 oz (or 3 cups) uncooked rigatoni pasta
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Cut all the veggies into bite size pieces (discarding ends of asparagus). Combine all in a bowl and mix with olive oil and mix lightly. Add pressed garlic, salt and pepper and mix well. Pour veggie mixture into a shallow baking pan and bake for 10-12 minutes at 425.

Prepare Pasta according to package and in a separate saucepan simmer whipping cream 6-8 minutes over medium-low heat to thicken slightly, stirring constantly.

Drain pasta and combine with veggies, snipped basil and heated cream. Stir in the Parmesan Cheese.

Serves 4