Black-Eyed Peas and Mixed Veggie Soup

Although I am not the biggest fan of the winter, it is a great time to experiment with soups and especially those that are filing enough to pass off as a meal. With that in mind I wanted to create a bean soup where I started out with one single ingredient — dry black-eyed peas. I have tried this tasty little bean in various dishes, but never used it in a soup. With that part down, I wasn't sure if I wanted to use  kale or spinach or collard greens as the green veggie, but opted to use kale since this was also an ingredient that I haven't cooked with all that much. I also added more veggies (squash, leeks, carrots, and beets) some onions, garlic, salt and pepper. What resulted was a hearty and tasty winter soup that took virtually no time to prepare and cook and is even versatile enough to be substituted for any veggies or another bean based on your preference. Here's the quick and easy black-eyed pea and veggie soup recipe:

Black-Eyed Peas and Mixed Veggie Soup

Ingredients:
3 cups of dry black-eyed peas
4 cups of vegetable broth
2-3 cups of water
3-4 carrots, chopped up
1 leek, chopped up (I used dark and light parts)
1 beet, peeled and chopped up
1/2 bunch of kale, cut up
1 yellow and 1 green squash, cut up
1 medium sized yellow onion, chopped up
1/4 of garlic glove, peeled and chopped
1/4 teaspoon of olive oil
dash of celery salt
dash of salt and pepper
Servings: 6-8

Directions:
Soak the black-eyed peas in water for 30-60 minutes before the process begins. Pour water and vegetable broth in a pot and let boil. Meanwhile, chop up the onion and add the black eye peas to the boiling water. Set to a low flame and cover while you cut up the squash, carrots, beets, kale, leeks ( I used leeks since I had some leftover from last weeks potato and leek soup recipe). In a separate pot, boil water and let beets cook for 15 minutes (I opted to use a separate pot because I didn't want the black-eyed pea pot to be stained red from the beets). Add the remaining veggies, along with garlic, celery salt, salt, and pepper to the black-eyed pea pot and cover. When the beets are done, drain the water, add pepper, salt and olive oil and set aside. After 45-60 minutes the soup should be done. Constantly check on it and make sure there is enough water (I ended up adding another 2 cups of water, since the beans and veggies absorbed my original serving of water). When ready place the soup in a boil and top with a few beets. Enjoy!!!

P.S. There isn't much that could go wrong with this simple and hearty winter soup. And as I mentioned vary up the veggies or trying out other beans for a different tastes... Either way you will enjoy this hearty soup that is sure to fill you up on those cold winter nights.

Seriously Soupy Serena