New Year’s Slow Cooker Southern Style Vegetarian Black-Eyed Peas

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 Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone 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 Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly: 600 Healthy Low-Fat Recipes for Your Slow Cooker for ideas and slow cooker cooking times.

I stirred everything together and set them to cook in my Programmable Slow Cooker 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, healthy 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!

Slow Cooker Southern Style Vegetarian Black-Eyed Peas Recipe

Recipe type: Main, Entree

Author: Martha

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 6 hours

Total time: 6 hours 15 mins

Serves: 6

Southern style spicy peas delicious served over rice with braised collard greens and warm from the oven cornbread.

Ingredients

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

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a 5 quart slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours, until the peas are tender.

Nutrition & Cooking Notes

Nutritional Estimates Per Serving (2/3 cup): 137 calories, 0.1 g fat, 34.3 g carbs, 14. 2 g fiber, 12. 5 g protein and 4 Weight Watchers PointsPlus value.

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More Black Eyed Peas Recipes with Weight Watchers PointsPlus Values

Weight Watchers Southern Style Black Eyed Peas with Collards – Topped with breadcrumbs and grated cheese and baked in a casserole for a tasty side dish with just 4 Points+. Found at Weight Watchers.

New Year’s Day Black-Eyed Peas – a simple recipe with ham, onions, tomatoes and garlic powder that has just 120 calories and 3 WW Points+ in each 1/2 cup serving. Found at AllRecipes.

Paula Deen’s Spicy Black Eyed Peas – simmered with bacon drippings, tomatoes and green chiles and chili powder and topped with crumbled bacon. Each 1/2 cup serving has 156 calories, 4.1 g fat, 26.4 g carbs, 10.9 g fiber, 13. 1 g protein and 4 WW Points+. Found at The Food Network.

Slow Cooked Black Eyed Peas with Ham – with tomato, chili powder and cumin for a bit of a Mexican twist. Each 1 cup serving has 161 calories and 4 Points+ from Gina at SkinnyTaste.