New Year’s Slow Cooker Southern Style Vegetarian Black-Eyed Peas – 4 Points+

Is it a tradition for you to eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day? It’s not for me. Probably because I didn’t grow up in the South. But January 1, 2012 marks the beginning of a new tradition.

Spicy Southern Style Vegetarian Black-Eyed Peas

According to southern tradition, eating black-eyed peas on January 1st, brings good luck in the coming year. It’s also a good idea to eat your peas with rice and braised collard greens because their green color symbolize money/riches.

I’m feeling a strong pull to do whatever I can to start the new year on the right foot. And from a health perspective, eating black-eyed peas and collard greens seems like a great idea. Both are nutrition rich power foods. According to nutritiondata.com , a one-cup serving of cooked dried peas has 200 calories, 1 g fat, 11 g fiber, 36 g carbs and 13 g protein. And they’re full of fiber, iron, magnesium, thiamine and folic acid. Collard greens are full of antioxidant and linked to cancer prevention.

I got the idea for making these black-eyed peas from my good friend and hairdresser, Stormi. When I was in for my latest appointment, our conversation turned to food, which it often does. She suggested I try Deborah Madison’s recipe for Southern Style Black-Eyed Peas from her  Cookbook. It sounded delicious. But it’s a stove top recipe and I wanted to let them simmer in the slow cooker so I also consulted  for ideas and slow cooker cooking times.

I stirred everything together and set them to cook in my  on low for 8 hours. I woke up this morning to my first batch of perfectly tender black-eyed peas. We’ll enjoy them later with rice, braised collard greens and cornbread for a healthy Southern feast.

If this recipe doesn’t look exactly like what you’re looking for, I’ve got a few more Weight Watcher’s friendly recipes for black-eyed peas at the end of the post.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy prosperous New Year!

• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, finely diced
• 2 stalks celery, finely diced
• 6 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2-1/4 cups (1 pound) dried black-eyed peas
• 6 cups water or vegetable stock
• 2 to 3 drops liquid smoke (optional)
• Salt to taste