Back To Beans

Not just beans, but fresh, creamy delicious black-eyed peas. I love them.

Into the crock pot went 2 packages of fresh black-eyed peas, 5 peeled cloves of garlic, 5 dried chili peppers (I used a mix of hot and mild), 2 bay leaves, a couple sprigs of thyme, about 2 cups of chopped tomatoes (I used halved mini plum tomatoes from our front yard), about 2 cups of chicken broth, about 2 cups of water, and a large pinch of smoked salt. I left the beans to simmer on high for around five hours. About an hour before dinner I added a big handful of chopped mustard greens from our garden to the crock pot, gave everything a good stir , turned the heat to low and left the beans to bubble until dinnertime. Just before serving I took a couple ladles of beans and puréed them in the blender and then stirred them back into the beans to thicken the broth. I served James' beans over steamed quinoa with a sprinkle of chopped Jamon Serrano and peppered cheddar cheese. It's not quite the bean diet but he doesn't seem to mind.