Bringing in the New Year

Although I am a GRIT for sure (Girls Raised in the South), I am not a ginormous fan of Southern cooking. I can't love all my veggies cooked to death. Also, pork fat just is not my friend. (Sorry, Emeril...) So anyways, although it is traditional in these parts to eat greens & black-eyed peas for New Year's for good luck, we just really can't like it.


So, we made our own tradition three or four years ago. We make black-eyed pea & spinach pizza.


Very simple, really. It started with using a store bought pizza crust several years ago, but nowadays we make our own, which is more cost effective AND healthier. Check out my recipe for pizza crust here if you want to make your own. I try to use homemade pizza sauce when possible also, but that doesn't always happen. This year we used store-bought. Once we layer the crust with sauce, we added spinach, black-eyed peas, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, and more mozzarella cheese.


The secret I learned this year is (duh!) to cook up dried black-eyed peas instead of using canned. Over the last year I have learned that dried beans and peas are ALWAYS better than canned or frozen. People say it takes more time and planning, but it's worth it. To make it easy-peasy, soak the night before. The next morning, rinse and throw in the crockpot on low. That's all.


Anyway, the finished product...
Or half-finished... it disappeared too quickly (as food often does around my house) to get a proper pic.