Cajun/Creole Style Stewed Black-Eyed Peas with Baked Sweet Potatoes and Cider Braised Collard Greens - recipe and photos

Here I have for you a full, healthy, balanced and delicious vegan meal.

Here are the ingredients that you will need:

celery, red onions, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, black-eyed peas, sweet potatoes and collard greens
lemon juice, vegetable broth, light olive oil and cornstarch (optional)
salt, ground black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, sweet paprika, ground ginger, ground thyme, dried parsley flakes, ground allspice and ground nutmeg

Here are the step by step instructions:

For best results, soak the peas in water overnight.
Then the next day start by chopping about 2 stalks of celery, one large red onion, and 3 medium sized, multi-colored bell peppers. Saute lightly in light olive oil. Then add about a teaspoon of each of the following: kosher salt, ground black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, ground ginger, sweet paprika, ground thyme and dried parsley flakes. Then almost immediately add about 12 small cherry tomatoes. Stir occasionally until the tomatoes pop open and deflate. Then add about 2 fluid ounces of fresh lemon juice and let simmer until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Then add about 3 cups of vegetable broth. Bring everything to a boil and then add about 1 cup of pre-soaked black-eyed peas. Bring back to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer and cover with a lid. Let the whole thing simmer for about an hour and then taste one of the peas to make sure that they are soft and tasty. Add liquid (water or vegetable broth) as needed. If you have excess liquid, or if you want more liquid, in your stew you can then add about a tablespoon of cornstarch, mixed with cool water, to thicken up the remaining liquid in the stew. Just make sure to stir in the cornstarch slurry for about a minute or 2.
Rinse off the sweet potatoes. Remove any hairs and cut off the very tips of the potatoes (if they look hard or dried out). Lightly brush an oven ready tray with light olive oil. Then lightly brush the tops of the potatoes with the same olive oil and lightly sprinkle the potatoes with some ground ginger. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Put the potatoes in the pre-heated oven, and let cook for about 45 minutes to an hour (depending on the size of the potatoes).
Rinse off the collard greens and remove the center stem from all of the leaves. Rough chop all of the remains leaves. Heat up a saute pan, add some light olive oil then add the chopped collards. Stir over medium heat for about a minute. Add about 2 fluid ounces of cider vinegar and 4 fluid ounces of vegetable broth. Then add about a teaspoon of the following: kosher salt, ground black pepper, ground ginger, ground allspice and ground nutmeg. you might want to go a little bit lighter on the allspice and nutmeg, as they are very strong. Cover the collards and reduce to low heat. Let cook for about 5 minutes. Then uncover the pan, raise the heat a bit and stir until almost all of the liquid is gone.

For the plate up:

I think that this dish tastes best when all of the ingredients are arranged neatly on top of each other. Start by placing the sweet potato on the plate. Cut it in half long-ways and then cut it a few times in the opposite direction until you have a few bite sized pieces. Then place a generous helping of collards on top of the cut up potato and then spoon the stewed black-eyed peas over top of everything. I really think that all the flavors of the ingredients in this dish marry together quite well and therefore it is best when eaten all together like this.

Well if you've made it all the way through this recipe, I hope that you are motivated to try it in your own home. Happy eating and happy cooking. Have a great day.