I am constantly on the lookout for recipes. I stock my refrigerator with “clean” foods with the intention of making great food. Sometimes it happens other times it doesn’t..and I have been known to let some food go bad. I realize that when I make my shopping list I need to have specific meals to make. Since it finally feels like fall I decided to make another soup. I looked in the ‘fridge and saw that I had collard greens and kale that needed to be cooked immediately or tossed. So I made a kale and collard green soup based on the recipe below.
Collard Green and Black-Eye Pea soup
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 large carrot, sliced
- 1 stalk celery, sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, (4 sliced and 1 whole), divided
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
- 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 5 cups chopped collard greens, or kale leaves (about 1 bunch), tough stems removed
- 1 15-ounce can black-eyed peas, rinsed
Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring, until just tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add sliced garlic, thyme and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Increase heat to high and add broth, tomatoes and their juice. Bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in collard greens (or kale), reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens are tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Discard the thyme sprig. Stir in black-eyed peas; remove from the heat and cover.
Original Recipe from Eating Well
In my usual fashion, I used the recipe as a guide and did my own thing. I used 5 or 6 sprigs of thyme, used crushed tomatoes, and instead of just collards used a combination. I also left out the celery because I didn’t have any on hand and I used garbanzo beans instead of black eyed peas. I am extremely happy with the result. Next time I will add more vegetable broth because the soup needs more liquid, unlike collards, kale doesn’t cook down so the soup was more bulky than soupy. To accompany the soup I made corn muffins utilizing a recipe from Jules Gluten Free flour.
I just purchased enough Jules Gluten free flour to last me forever so I wanted to start using it. I subscribe to her email and in yesterday’s issue she posted a recipe for pumpkin corn bread (or muffins). When I went to my pantry I was all out of pumpkin but I did have some organic winter squash baby food that was still good. Ever the adventurous cook I utilized it in the recipe. I also substituted a banana for an egg. I also made my own pumpkin spice with fresh cinnamon from the farmers market. The muffins were delicious. Mine were on the sweet side so the next time I make them I will cut back on the sugar, especially if I decide to use a ripe banana.
Pumpkin Cornbread
Ingredients:
- 1 egg (or egg substitute like 1 banana)
- 1 cup milk of choice (dairy or non-dairy vanilla soy, hemp, almond, coconut...)
- 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 2/3 cup pumpkin purée
- 1 cup Jules Gluten Free™ All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 Tbs. baking powder, gluten-free
- 3/4 cup cornmeal (certified gluten free)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 2 Tbs. flaxseed meal (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F static or 325° F convection.
Mix the liquid ingredients and pumpkin until combined. Whisk in the dry ingredients until the lumps are removed. Expect the batter to be a bit thin, but not watery.
Pour the batter into an oiled 8 x 8 baking pan or into oiled or lined muffin pans. Bake for 30 minutes for the cornbread, 20 minutes for regular corn muffins, or 12-15 minutes for mini-muffins. Insert a cake tester into the center of the bread to test for doneness; they should be lightly browned around the edges and firm to the touch in the centers.
Copyright 2010 Jules E. Dowler Shepard
I hope you enjoy this great fall meal. I know I did!
