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.