My Annual "Good Luck" Black-Eyed Pea Recipe Black-Eyed Pea, Kale, And Polenta Soup Vegan And Gluten Free

It's a Southern tradition to eat black-eyed peas
on New Years day for good luck.

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My Annual Lucky Recipe
I hope my lucky black-eyed pea recipes have been bringing you good luck over the years! 

I was dining at Peter Lowell's, my favorite local restaurant, and saw they had a kale and polenta soup on the menu. Unfortunately it had a bit of dairy in it so I couldn't taste it, but it  inspired me to create today's recipe. I had never thought of adding polenta to thicken a soup but it's a great idea.
For those of you who avoid GMO corn, you can get organic polenta which means it cannot contain any GMO ingredients. Bob's Red Mill and de la Estancia offer organic, non-GMO polenta.

This years recipe is a hearty soup that would be a great addition to your New Years day buffet or would make a great half-time meal. You can prepare it early in the day or even the night before. 

Spice up your Life with Piri Piri
I was recently introduced to piri piri (pronounced pee-ree pee-ree and Swahili for "pepper pepper"), a sauce originally made from the African birds eye chili pepper, that was brought to Mozambique and Angola by the Portuguese. It's a great accompaniment to this soup and almost anything that enjoys a little spicing up!

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Black-eyed pea, kale, and polenta soup
Vegan, Gluten Free (if using GF polenta)
[makes 8 servings]

1 cup dried black-eyed peas
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups destemmed and sliced kale
6 cups vegetable broth
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 cup organic polenta
salt and black pepper to taste
Piri piri,or your favorite hot sauce to taste (optional)

Pick over the peas to remove rocks or dirt. 
In a 5 1/2 quart Dutch oven or large soup pot, cover the black-eyed peas with water and bring to a boil. Boil peas for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for an hour. Rinse and drain the peas in a colander. Rinse and dry the pot.

Heat the oil in the Dutch oven or soup pot and cook the onions, celery, and carrots until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute until fragrant.

Stir in the kale and then the black-eyed peas. 

Add broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil.

Slowly stir in the polenta. Lower the heat to medium low and simmer, covered and stirring occasionally, until the peas and polenta are cooked, about 45 minutes.

Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with piri piri or your favorite hot sauce, if desired.

Per serving: 231 calories, 3 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 122 mg omega-3 and 513 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 9 g protein, 41 g carbohydrates, 6 g dietary fiber, and 59 mg sodium (using no-salt-added tomatoes and before the addition of salt to taste)