New Year Collards and Black Eyed Peas

Growing up in the South, every year on New Years Day, I was subjected to eating collard greens, black-eyed peas, cornbread, and rice in hopes of accumulating wealth in the new year. This was the most painful meal of the year. The greens were boiled to death as well as the peas, and I was scarred for life. I grew up hating greens and basically every green vegetable besides green beans and asparagus. When I was in culinary school, I discovered how much I loved sauteed spinach. I started experimenting by sauteing other greens and grew to love them. Now, I get cravings for them...cannot eat enough. For New Years I decided to fall in with tradition and make a fresh tasting collard green dish. The collards I found are not only organic, but local and inexpensive as well. I have also made this and tossed in cooked pasta noodles for a complete dish. Hopefully it will bring me a little extra wealth this year...

You will need:

2 bunches collard greens, center ribs removed and torn into medium sized pieces*

1c black eyed peas**

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small shallot, thinly sliced

3 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces (you can leave this out, just increase olive oil by 1T)

2-3T of red wine vinegar

olive oil

salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes to taste

Parmesan cheese

* To remove ribs, fold the green in half, lengthwise, and holding the stem, pull the leaf away.

**You can used canned or fresh, I used fresh and boiled them for about 30 minutes until they were tender.

In a pan over medium heat, render bacon until almost done. Add garlic, shallot and 1T olive oil. Saute until bacon, garlic, and shallot are cooked. Add collard greens and peas. Add vinegar and turn greens so they can wilt. Add enough olive oil to lightly coat the greens. Continue cooking until tender, about 5-6 mins. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste. Serve with Parmesan cheese on top.

Fried Rice, the Ultimate Fridge Cleaner...

Throwing away produce is a shame, not to mention expensive. Whenever I have a bunch of vegetables that I need to use up I like to make fried rice. Making your own fried rice is easy and is healthier then ordering it from your local take out. You will typically use fresher ingredients as well as less fat and salt that are in typical restaurant dishes. During culinary school, I really started to notice the taste of salt in food and how to properly season foods. When you learn this, you use much less. There is no set recipe for this, so get creative! In the fried rice I made, I used cabbage, broccoli, carrots, corn, spinach, onion, bell pepper, peas, and egg. Use whatever you have! Be adventurous and add pineapple or oranges. Add cooked meat, tofu, or tempeh for added protein. It is the ultimate way to clean out your fridge.

You will need:

1c rice

1 egg

3T vegetable oil

chopped garlic

soy sauce

1t sesame oil

sesame seeds

vegetables

meat, tofu, or tempeh (optional)

A easy way to remember to cook rice is 1 part rice to 2 parts water. Boil water and add rice. Cook covered for 1o mins and then uncovered for 10 mins. In a large pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Crack egg in the pan and as it cooks, break it up with a spatula. Add veggies and saute until tender. Add cooked rice. Cook for 2 minutes and then turn rice over with the spatula. Add sesame oil, soy sauce, and sesame seeds. Mix until the sesame oil and soy sauce coat the rice.