Pasta and Black Eyed Peas

I've been trying to work through a lot of beans lately. Not only as an efficient way to up my protein consumption, but also because I still have some left from the Cave. So, y'know. One of my goals has been to use up the legumes we don't really eat a lot of, and one of those is black eyed peas (turtle beans). We actually do like to eat those, but mostly fresh or frozen instead of dried and cooked. This seemed like a fun way to use some up, and also to use up a bunch of stuff in the fridge that I didn't want to go to waste. I expected this dish to be fun and good, but it was quite a bit more delicious than I'd anticipated. This will definitely be making it into our normal rotation. Hope you enjoy!

1 can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed (unless you cooked them from dry, but still drain them)
1/2 pound fusili, cooked to package directions
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup diced salt pork
salt to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 cups baby spinach
1/4 onion, chopped
1/2-1 carrot, shredded
1/2 14-ounce can artichoke hearts (not marinated, but drain the water)

Heat the oil and chile flakes over low heat for 15 minutes. Turn the heat to medium and add the salt pork, frying well. When the pork is done, add all the other ingredients and cook long enough to heat through. Serves 2.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bergamot Curd

Image
As promised, here is the curd recipe. This is perfect for scones, toast, just to eat, or for an unusual twist on the filling typically used in those little fruit tarts. If bergamots are not available to you, you could always use lemon, Seville orange, sweet types of orange (cut the sugar a bit though), lime, pomello, grapefruit or any other citrus. Enjoy! 9 ounces freshly squeezed bergamot juice 2 tablespoons finely grated zest 1 1/2 cups sugar 6 eggs 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 12 tablespoons butter, cut into 1 tablespoon bits Whisk all but butter into a saucepan. Begin to heat over medium low heat and add all the butter. Whisking periodically, cook until the whisk marks stay in the curd. Pack into sterilised jars (or you can just put this in a jar and put it in the fridge, if you don't want to can it) and process 15 minutes. Makes about 3 cups.
Read more

Gems, Lovely Gems

Image
I actually have a bit more homework than I anticipated, so today I just want to tell you guys about gems. It appears that no one really knows what gems are anymore, but back in the 1800s they were a popular, if heavy, treat. So much so, that many pioneers even found room in their wagons to bring a gem pan. By the early 1900s, gems had fallen out of favour and most people just went with muffins. It's a sad, sad thing, really. Traditionally, gem pans were made from cast iron. You can still find beautiful, old cast iron pans on eBay. In fact, aside from scouring antique shops hopefully (and often fruitlessly), eBay is the only place I know that routinely "carries" them. You can find a proper gem pan for as little as US$5, and I've seen them as much as US$300. You just never really know. My advice, however, is to find one that's shallow, made in the mid-1800s (this is when the pans were really in their prime, quality-wise), and in extremely poor condition. I say to fi
Read more

Lentil, Chick Pea and Eggplant Boil

Image
Sorry for the delay. I actually made this days ago, but due to my busy school schedule (yay! The semester is finally almost over!), I didn't have time until now to post it. I always forget about lentils. I always have them in the house, and like them quite a bit, but most of the time, they don't even exist as an option in my head. I don't know why that is. I've been telling P for a while now I wanted to eat more lentils, so finally I just made some. I also decided to take this as an opportunity to use up some spare veggies laying about. Hope you enjoy! 1/2 anise bulb, sliced 1 small onion, cut into rings 1/2 jalepeno, minced 1 tablespoon olive oil salt to taste 1 cup yellow potato, cubed 2 cups cubed and peeled eggplant 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, cut into quarters 1 cup lentils 3 - 4 1/2 cups water 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon each: clove, cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed 1/2 preserved lemon, diced 1 roma tomato, chopped 1 cup mixe
Read more