Sunday Shopping

 It was chilly at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning. We shopped quickly and made it home before the forecast rain.

I went to the market without a list — which can be dangerous because then I tend to buy one of everything that looks good. And there are only two of us to eat all this excellent organic produce. However, I managed to exercise pretty good restraint.

Here's what we came home with today:
broccoli, cauliflower, romaine lettuce, 1 bunch collard greens, a bag of heirloom spinach, 4 pink grapefruit, 20 oranges, 1 large and 7 small plain St. Benoit yogurt, 1 dozen eggs, 1 bunch red spring onions, 2 bartlett pears, 1 small butternut squash, 2 onions, 5 small red potatoes, 2 pink lady apples, 2 sundowner apples, 8 page tangerines, 2 oro blanco grapefruit.

Mixed Greens

We had an excellent diversity of greens in our fridge the other day: rutabaga greens, turnip greens, radish greens and beet greens. These are the bonus vegetables that come attached to the delicious roots we buy at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

I combined them all in this simple dish of greens.

First I washed them all - this was the longest step - and discarded the very thick stems. Then I stacked them on top of each, cut them in half lengthwise and then across in inch-wide ribbons.

I warmed a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet with a lid. I added some red onion and a bashed clove of garlic and let them soften. Then I added the greens a few handfuls at a time, interspersing with salt and pepper, and stirring well so the oil lightly coated all the greens. I put the lid on and let it cook down a little. I find if the greens get slightly browned they become sweeter, so I encourage that, but not burning.

The diversity of the greens cooks down to a pleasant pottage. The spicy turnip and radish greens are tempered by the sweet beet tops and the cabbage-y rutabaga greens. I could also have added kale or spinach as well to bulk up the dish. In fact, any greens do in this simple, yet highly nutritious, side dish that we enjoy regularly through the winter months. I tend to make a large amount so I can stir the leftovers into cooked brown rice the next day.

We can never eat too many greens.

Ethiopian Lentils

A standard dinner around here is beans, greens and grains. Within that structure, the possibilities for diversity are endless.

The other night the beans were lentils with Ethiopian spices, the grain was millet, and the greens were curly kale.

I seasoned the lentils with a spice combination I made recently and stored in a jar in my pantry. It has an aroma similar to the food I ate in an Ethiopian restaurant near my home in Montreal many years ago (if my nose is remembering right), wonderfully warm and spicy on a winter evening. It's more warming than heat-hot, so add cayenne as desired.

The spice recipe makes about a cup and will last about 3 months in a cool place, ready to be stirred into a pot of beans any time you're wanting a cozy meal.

I added roasted poblanos to the stew because I keep them in the freezer. (See my fall pepper prep here.) You could use fresh diced poblanos or even regular green peppers.

The lentils only take about 20 minutes to cook, but then this stew simmers for another 40 minutes or so for all the flavors to combine. The kitchen becomes fragrant, hungry diners hover, and finally it's time to eat.

Spice Mix
1/2 cup dried basil
2 tbsp whole cloves
1/2 tbsp allspice berries
1/4 cup ground ginger
3 tbsp fenugreek seeds
2-inch stick cinnamon
1 tbsp cayenne

Combine all in spice grinder and grind until smooth. This will stay flavorful in a cool dark pantry for 3 months or so.

Ethiopian Lentils
2 cups green lentils
2 large red onions, chopped
1/4 cup ghee or vegetable oil
5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger root
1 carrot, chopped
2 poblano peppers, roasted, peeled and chopped
3 tbsp tomato paste
Ethiopian spice mix (above)
cayenne pepper to taste (optional)

Cook the lentils in 6 cups of water until tender, about 20 minutes. They should absorb most of the water. Drain them but reserve the cooking liquid.

Heat a large cast iron fry pan over high heat until very hot. Lower the heat a little and add the onions. Cook, stirring constantly, until they look a little browned and are starting to soften. This dry cooking of the onions adds great flavor. Lower the heat to medium, add the ghee, and stir in the garlic and ginger. Keep stirring for another minute, then add the carrot and poblano peppers.

Add a ladle of the lentil cooking liquid to the pan and stir in the poblano peppers, tomato paste, tomato paste and 1 tbsp spice blend. Season with salt and pepper to taste. This is the time to add a little cayenne if you want it hot - I generally don't. Add a little more of the spice blend to taste - I used a couple of tablespoons in total.

Add the lentils and half their cooking liquid to the pan. Let them simmer, uncovered, until they are tender and the sauce has thickened, about 40 minutes. Add more liquid as necessary so the stew stays moist.

Serves 4-6

Beet Burgers

I'm really enjoying the book Grains as Mains by Jodi Moreno and Sarah W. Caron. It combines ancient grains like quinoa and buckwheat in simple yet delicious ways. As a big fan of diversity in eating, I am always happy to find new ways to cook the grains in my pantry.

When I read their recipe for a beet and buckwheat burger, I was sure it wouldn't work. So of course I had to try it. And halfway through I thought I was right - the burgers were falling apart.

But as they cooked in the pan, they held their shape - because of the egg protein gluing them together - and they turned out crunchy and yummy, and not dry like so many veggie burgers are. Larry said this was the best use of beets ever.

I used the toasted buckwheat also called kasha. It's a deep brown color and looks like tiny pyramids. It's not related to wheat - it's actually a seed, not a grain - and is gluten-free. It also has a deep rich toasty flavor that goes well with mushrooms - I usually cook it as the grain in a mushroom pilaf - and now I know it tastes great with beets too.

I used pumpkin seeds because I love their bright green color against the red beets. The authors called for sunflower seeds. Chopped nuts would work well too, I think.

I put the buckwheat in to soak before I went to work, and cooked the burgers for dinner. Make sure to add the 8-12 hours of soaking time to your schedule when you plan to make these.

Beet Burgers
1/3 cup buckwheat
1 medium beet (4 oz)
1 shallot (about 1 1/2 oz)
2 eggs
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
2-3 tbsp vegetable oil

Place buckwheat in a bowl, add water to cover it by an inch, and let it sit 8-12 hours. It doesn't expand very much, but it does soften enough that it doesn't need cooking.

Scrub and coarsely chop the beet and the carrot. Put them in the food processor with the peeled and chopped shallot. Pulse a few times to chop finely.

Drain the buckwheat and add to the processor along with the eggs, rolled oats, salt and pumpkin seeds. Pulse a few more times until the mixture is finely chopped. It will not be holding together or looking anything like a successful burger dough.

Scoop the mixture into a bowl, cover and refrigerate about 30 minutes.

Divide it into 4 portions and pat them into 1/2 inch high patties, about 4 inches in diameter. The mixture will only loosely hold its shape. Don't be discouraged.

Warm the oil in a cast iron fry pan. It should cover the bottom.

Cook 2 burgers at a time, 4-5 minutes on each side, until crisp and browned. A little blackened is okay. The burgers will hold together when they're crispy and will flip easily.

I served them with oven-baked fries and a zesty cabbage salad.

Serves 4

Sunday Shopping

It was another chilly morning at the Hollywood Farmers Market. That didn't deter the farmers, though, who brought macadamia nuts, kohlrabi, winter squash, many varieties of legumes, and tiny beets and rutabagas to tempt me.

I was relatively restrained in being tempted. Here's what we brought home with us:

3 red delicious apples, 2 pink lady apples, 2 bartlett pears, 5 page mandarins, 1 bunch small green kohlrabi, 1 bunch very small rutabagas with their greens, 1 bunch red scallions, 1 red butter lettuce, 12 oranges, 2lb dried white lima beans, 3 small plain St. Benoit yogurt, 1 dozen eggs, 1 brown onion, 2 heads of garlic, 1 bunch of baby beets, 1 bag of heirloom spinach, 1 bunch large carrots, 1 leek, 1 bunch cilantro, a small basket of macadamia nuts, and 1 lb dried trout beans.

Spicy Spaghetti Squash

Over the holidays, I cooked some soba noodles and served them with a spicy sauce made with Szechwan pepper and chilies. It was a yummy dish that I served with fried tofu and celery slaw. Larry said the noodles were so good he would even eat them cold for lunch.

I made more chili oil than the noodles needed, so I stored the extra in the fridge until I decided how to use it.

Then I saw tiny spaghetti squashes at the Hollywood Farmers Market - decision made!

I have to say, it was a yummy combination. The spaghetti squash is mild and a little crunchy. The chili sauce is zesty and moderately spicy, with the occasional crunch from a peppercorn.

I pierced the small spaghetti squash with a knife and baked it at 350°F until it was tender. This took only 25 minutes — it was a very small squash.

Then I let it cool a little, cut it in half lengthwise and scooped out and discarded the seeds. I scooped the flesh into a small dish, separating the strands somewhat, and tossed them with a few tablespoons of the chili oil.

Yummy. And I'm sure the sauce would be great on other vegetables too. Here's how I made it.

Spicy Chili Oil
4 scallions, white parts only, thinly sliced
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp sesame seeds
2 tsp Szechwan peppercorns, coarsely chopped

Warm the scallions, oil, red pepper flakes, sesame seeds and peppercorns in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir occasionally for about 10 minutes until the oil sizzles and the scallions are golden. Remove from the heat and let cool.

This is the oil I stirred into the spaghetti squash.

For the noodle dish, I whisked 3 tbsp of the unstrained chili oil together with 1/4 cup tahini, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 3 tbsp tamari (natural soy sauce) and 2 tsp roasted sesame oil. I tossed this sauce with the cooked noodles and the scallion greens and drizzled with more chili oil. I poured this over 12 oz of soba noodles.

Fennel, Apple and Avocado Salad

I served this fun crunchy salad the other night with a meal of leftover beans and rice. It added a great counterpoint to the meal.

The bashed peppercorns add a zest when you bite into one, and the tart granny smith apple plays well with the fennel and mild Susanna avocado. The fennel adds a good crunch.

I suppose the pink grapefruit zest is not essential, but it added a citrus note without any juice.

Altogether a delicious side salad.

Fennel, Apple and Avocado Salad
2 tsp crushed peppercorns
2 tsp chopped drained capers

¼ tsp fleur de sel

¼ tsp pink grapefruit zest

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tsp chopped dill

1 avocado, cut in thin wedges

1 cup thinly sliced fennel

½ granny smith apple, thinly sliced

Combine peppercorns, capers and salt in a small bowl. Separately, whisk the grapefruit zest with the juice, oil and dill. On a serving plate, layer the avocados, fennel and apple. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and sprinkle with some of the salt mixture.Serve immediately, passing the extra salt at the table.

Serves 2

Fancy Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Oven-roasting transforms vegetables and blends disparate flavors in fabulous ways.

This recipe looks a little strange, but is really delicious. The dates and pecans add flavor and texture - it will even convert people who think they don't like Brussels sprouts.

The picture to the right is of the dish after being reheated as leftovers. I forgot to photograph it the first time out of the oven when it was much prettier. However, the reheated leftovers tasted really good too.

Brussels sprouts are members of the cabbage family, so they contain all the estrogen-balancing and colon-health nutrients that cabbage and kale do. They are also good sources of folate, Vitamins C and K, fiber and omega-3 fatty acids. Plus they are adorable.

If you want to try Brussels sprouts but this recipe is too complex, click here to see my simple recipe for Brussels sprouts with lemon.

These tiny vegetables are delicious when prepared simply, but are strong enough to handle big flavors. They're definitely worth adding to the week's menu.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Squash with Dates and Pecans
10 oz Brussels sprouts
10 oz butternut squash or other winter squash
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup dates
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 large clove garlic
1/4 tsp dried chili flakes

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Cut any faded outer leaves off the Brussels sprouts and cut them in half through the stem end. Put them in a large bowl.

Peel the squash and dice it in 1/2 inch pieces. Add to the Brussels sprouts.

Chop the pecans. Take the pits out of the dates and cut them with scissors into bite-sized pieces. Add both to the bowl.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the chopped rosemary, salt, pepper, dijon, oil, vinegar, minced garlic, and chili flakes. Pour this over the vegetables and mix until well combined.

Pour the mixture onto a baking sheet and spread it out. Bake 40-45 minutes, stirring once or twice during the cooking.

Serves 4

Sunday Shopping

It was cool and overcast at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning. The espresso guy had wandered off and was nowhere to be found, so I had to manage without an Americano. This was no bad thing.

I had a short list, but then I saw small rutabagas at Flora Bella, and beautiful organic brussels sprouts at a stand I don't remember the name of, so a few extras came home with us. I'm sure we'll manage to eat them. After all, you can never have too many vegetables.

Here's a list of the organic produce we'll be eating this week:
1 red butter lettuce, 1 bunch small rutabagas with greens, 1 small container Brussels sprouts, 3 small plain St. Benoit yogurt, 1 bunch red beets with greens, 1 kabocha squash, 1 bag heirloom spinach, 1 bunch broccoli, 3 medium leeks, 1 white grapefruit, 6 pink grapefruit, 3 red potatoes, 2 heads garlic, 2 large onions, 13 oranges, 1 bunch dill, 1 bunch green curly kale, 2 dozen eggs, 4 red delicious apples, 4 pink lady apples, 2 bosc pears, 1 bartlett pear, 1 anjou pear, 12 oz chile lemon pistachios, 1 bunch mikado turnips with greens.

Beans in Coconut Milk

One of the great things about dried beans is the way they can be transformed into so many different dishes with just a variation in seasonings.

I have a dozen varieties of beans in my cupboard at any one time (you can see my current list near the bottom of the column to the right) which gives me a variety of textures and sizes to choose from depending on how I will use them. Bigger ones are good in salads and smaller ones in soups. However, they are all pretty inter-changeable, and can all be made delicious.

The other day I served a standard meal of beans, grains and greens. The beans were pinquitos (small reddish beans native to southern California) cooked in coconut milk; the grain was millet; and the greens were curly kale cooked my usual way.

It's such a simple dinner, yet highly nutritious. Lots of fiber, B vitamins, minerals and protein in a relatively low-fat and low-calorie yet satisfying meal.

Beans in Coconut Milk
1 1/3 cup pinquito beans or other small bean
1 tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 jalapeños, chopped
2 tsp tumeric
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp coriander
14 oz can diced tomatoes
14 oz can coconut milk

Cook the beans in boiling water until tender, about 2 hours. Drain and set aside.

Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until transparent. Stir in the jalapeño, turmeric, cumin, coriander and salt to taste. Cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add the cooked beans, tomatoes and coconut milk. Lower the heat and simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly and the beans are warmed through. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Serves 4-6

Three Bean Stew

This is a fun winter stew using fresh green beans, dried Christmas limas (or other dried bean) and frozen edamame. We enjoyed the colorful combination as a meal in itself, and then as leftovers served over brown rice a couple of days later.

Three Bean Stew

2 1/2 oz green beans

1 1/4 cup frozen shelled edamame

1 tbsp olive oil

2/3 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

3" rosemary sprig

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 carrot, chopped

1/3 cup dried beans, cooked

1 1/2 cups vegetable stock

2 tbsp unsalted butter

Trim green beans and cut into 2-inch lengths. Cook until tender. Drain. Cool in ice water and drain again. Set aside.

Cook edamame according to package directions. Drain, rinse under cold water, and set aside.

Warm olive oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaf, rosemary, salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add carrot and celery. Cook, stirring, until softened, another 3-5 minutes.

Add cooked beans and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add green beans and edamame. Cook a couple of minutes until heated through. Add the butter and stir gently until it is melted. Discard the bay leaf and rosemary.

Serve hot.

Arugula and Orange Salad

It's nice to have a zesty salad to go with a simple plate of rice and beans. The other day I picked tender arugula leaves from our garden and combined them with oranges and red onions for a salad that definitely left the mouth tingling.

Unlike most store-bought arugula, ours is quite spicy. Although the sweet oranges provided a nice balance, a few leaves of butter lettuce would have made the salad less of an adventure in eating.

Don't let that deter you though. Just munch on an arugula leaf before you make the salad, and decide if you need to add some lettuce. There is plenty of dressing in this recipe to easily coat a few leaves of lettuce. I saved the extra dressing and used it on a green salad the next day.

Arugula and Orange Salad
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (from 1 orange)
1 very small clove garlic, minced (opt)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp canola oil
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/2 navel orange
1 tbsp slivered red onion
1 cup arugula leaves, washed and dried

In a small saucepan, boil the orange juice over medium heat to reduce it by half or a little more, about 5 minutes.

Pour the concentrated juice into a small bowl and whisk in the garlic, vinegar, oil and curry powder. Add a sprinkle of salt to taste.

Cut the top and bottom off the orange. Stand it on end and cut it in half. Reserve half for another use. Slice the skin and white pith off the half you will use, then cut the flesh crosswise into 1/4 inch half-moons.

Toss the arugula in the dressing and put it on a plate. Add the red onion and oranges. Drizzle a little dressing over all. (You will probably have extra dressing.)

Serves 2

Sunday Shopping

It was cool and grey at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning. Our shopping list was not long, which is maybe why a tiny spaghetti squash was able to slip into our bags unnoticed (well, unnoticed by Larry, which is the key).

We did our shopping quickly, and then bought pupusas to take home for breakfast. Yum.

Here's what we bought:
3 onions, 1 romaine lettuce, 1 red butter lettuce, 1 bunch beets, 2 delicata squash, 7 oz small cremini mushrooms, 4 clementines, 1 very small spaghetti squash, 4 navel oranges, 1 large and 3 small plain St. Benoit yogurt, 1 greenish-red pepper, 4 red onions, 2 bulbs of garlic, 1 bunch cilantro, 8 small red potatoes, 1 bunch green curly kale, 1 non-organic but locally-grown ginger root, 3 pink lady apples, 4 apples that I forget the name of, 1 dozen eggs, 12 oz hickory smoked pistachios, and 3 bartlett pears.

And Russ sharpened 2 knives for us while we shopped.

Simple Beet Salad

Winter stews and grains make delicious meals, but they can be a little boring to look at on the plate — a lot of brown is involved.

The other day I whipped up this simple beet salad to add a spark of color to our dinner plates. I took the leftovers in my lunch the next day. It's a great way to get Vitamin C, potassium, beneficial fibers, and all sorts of health benefits.

It's fast to make in the food processor — grating by hand would be very messy. I suppose you could use golden beets, but where's the fun in that?

Simple Beet Salad
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
3 medium beets, greens removed and saved for another dish

Whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard and olive oil. Season with a little salt and pepper.

I peeled the beets because the skin is grayish and I wanted a sparkly red salad. However the skin is perfectly edible, so leave it on if you like. If you do, make sure to scrub the beets well.

Either way, cut off the tops and bottoms and slice the beets to fit the feed tube of your food processor. Use the shredding disk to grate them.

Add the grated beets to the dressing. Toss to combine and serve.

Serves 4

Jalapeño Corn Bread

 We started 2016 with a dinner of collard greens, black-eyed peas and jalapeño cornbread – it was a great meal to start the year, and hopefully lucky too.

I have many cornbread and corn muffin recipes. I made this one at New Year's because I had some apple juice in the freezer I wanted to use up.

(I can only find organic apple juice in large jars, but I rarely need more than a cup at a time. So I freeze the extra in small containers ready to be defrosted and added to marinades or baked goods.)

This is a moist and light cornbread. It only uses egg whites; I added the yolks to scrambled eggs for breakfast the next day — they went great with left over cornbread.

I used 2 serrano peppers I pulled from the freezer — freezing makes them milder. Jalapeños tend to be milder than serranos, especially if you remove the seeds before using them. You could use a little red or green pepper instead of the hot peppers if you don't like spice, but it's nice to have a little kick in the cornbread.

Make sure to use organic cornmeal — the non-organic kind is almost certainly genetically-modified. The same goes for the frozen corn, which is fortunately getting easy to find at the supermarket.

Jalapeño Corn Bread
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 cups plain yogurt
1 tbsp honey
1 or 2 jalapeño peppers
1/2 cup grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

Leftovers are great for breakfast

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a 9x9 or 7x13 inch baking pan.

Stir together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg whites, yogurt and honey.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Stir together vigorously.

Seed and mince the jalapeños. Add to the batter along with the cheese and corn. Pour the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top turns slightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the bread to cool slightly in the pan. Cut into squares and serve warm.

Spicy Collard Greens

Larry gave me a fun cookbook for Christmas - Leon: Fast Vegetarian by Jane Baxter and Henry Dimbleby.

The focus is on simple but delicious vegetarian cooking. We have varying definitions on fast, but it's definitely approachable food, not fussy cooking.

I delved in and found a recipe for collard greens that I served with the black-eyed peas on New Year's Day.

Collards are one of Larry's favorite greens, and he particularly enjoyed them cooked with chili and turmeric. They were a great addition to a meal of black-eyed peas and cornbread.

Spicy Collard Greens
1 bunch (about 1 lb) collard greens
1 heaping tbsp dried (unsweetened) coconut
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp mustard seed
1 dried chile, crushed
3/4 inch piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
1 clove of garlic, crushed
squeeze of lime juice

Wash the collards and cut off the thick stem at the bottom. Roll them tightly like cigars and shred them finely across.

Combine the coconut with 1 tbsp of boiling water, the turmeric and chili powder. Stir well.

Warm the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the cumin and mustard seeds, chile, ginger and garlic. Cook another 2 minutes.

Add the collards and sprinkle with a little salt. Stir well, then turn up the heat and stir vigorously. Let cook, stirring regularly, about 5 minutes, until the greens are wilted. If they stick to the pan, add a little water.

Stir in the coconut mixture and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Serves 4

Any leftovers can be stirred into cooked rice or reheated alone as a side dish.

Sunday Shopping

It was chilly at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning, and there were fewer farmers than usual.

Fortunately, we were able to find enough delicious organic produce to feed us this week.

Here's what we came home with:

4 satsuma tangerines, 3 bunches of carrots (there was a great deal), 1 bunch beets, brussels sprouts, 1 head (?) fennel, 3 granny smith apples, 1 bunch curly purple kale, 1 green pepper, 1 red sails lettuce, 2 onions, 1 bunch radishes with excellent greens, 4 zutano avocados, peanuts in the shell for our friendly squirrel, 1 lb mixteca coffee from Cafecito Organico, 1 lb khadrawy dates from Bautista Family Organic Date Farm, 2 dozen eggs, 2 bartlett pears, and 3 pink lady apples

And Russ sharpened a knife while we shopped.

New Year's Good Luck

I have adopted the Southern tradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day for good luck.

I'm willing to sign on for pretty much any tradition involving beans.

This year I cooked them with tomatoes, rosemary and thyme, tossed them with smoked cheddar cheese, and baked them in the oven.

Needless to say, they were delicious.

(The smoked cheese substitutes for the traditional bacon flavor in black-eyed peas. But you can leave it out if necessary, the dish will still be yummy.)

Black-eyed peas are one of the quicker legumes to cook. I usually don't even soak them, just let them simmer for an hour or so until they are tender. On New Year's Day, however, I did soak them in water to cover for 3-4 hours before cooking them. It shortened the cooking time a little, which was nice. Best of all, it reminded me that while 1 lb of dried black-eyed peas doesn't look like much, when they have expanded in the soaking water they make enough to feed an army. I cooked them in a large pot, and then baked them in a large casserole. Larry was a little taken aback at the size of the dinner.

Fortunately, they last well in the fridge. They will be my lunch for quite a few days to come.

And if black-eyed peas on New Year's are lucky, then more black-eyed peas must be even luckier!

Happy 2016 to you!

Baked Black-Eyed Pea Casserole
1 lb dried black-eyed peas (about 2 cups)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
14oz can diced tomatoes
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 cup grated smoked cheddar or smoked jack
3/4 cup grated aged cheddar

Soak the peas in water to cover by 3 inches for a few hours. (The less time you soak them, the more minutes they'll need to cook.) Drain.

Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and fry until golden-brown. Add the can of tomatoes, then fill the can with water and add that too. Add the salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary and drained black-eyed peas.

Simmer, covered, until the beans are tender, 30-45 minutes. Stir occasionally. This is a dry dish, so there shouldn't be a lot of liquid in the pot, but add a little water if it looks like it needs it.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Remove the bean pot from the heat and stir in the smoked cheese.

Pour into a 7x13 casserole (or other 3 quart size) and sprinkle the cheddar on top.

Bake 35-40 minutes until the flavors are melded and the beans are piping hot.

Serves 8-10