'New Year's Day' Cabbage, Beef & Black Bean Soup

Ingredients

1 LB bag of DRIED black-eyed peas (you will not use them all)

4-6 cups of chicken stock or beef stock

1/2 head of cabbage, sliced thin

1/2 LB of ground beef

1/2 yellow onion, chopped fine

1-2 large carrots, peels and chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

3 tbsp olive oil

Seasoning Salt (to taste)

Salt and Pepper 

For a richer broth use the bottom 3 ingredients (in lieu of the seasoning salt):

Optional: 3 tbsp tomato paste

Optional: Paprika

Optional: 2 Tbsp 'Better than Bouillon' beef stock base, added to an additional cup of water

Optional: Grilled ham steak for topping

Optional: Fresh parsley for topping

Directions

Black-eyed peas are DELICIOUS and a great source of both protein and fiber. The only catch is you need to commit ahead of time in order to allow time for them to soak. The back of the bag will give you two options- a QUICK soak method that takes 1 hour and the traditional method which requires 6-8 hours. This can be done overnight or earlier in the day for them to be ready by dinnertime. Either will work, although I think the 6-8 hours helps retain their shape better. 

Drain your soaked peas and set aside. Prep the rest of your veggies so they are ready to go. 

In your largest soup-capable pot, heat it over medium-high and add olive oil. Add carrots first and sauté for 3 minutes. Add onions and continue to cook for another 5 minutes until softened. Add salt and pepper. Create a space in the middle of the pan and add your ground beef and let it brown. Finally, add your cabbage and sauté until it starts to work down. We've provided you a can of diced tomatoes also. If you like, throw those in!

Time to season, and you get to be creative here! You can add the seasoning salt from your welcome kit and it will be delicious. If you have some tomato paste, you can also add that in at this time to give the broth some depth. We happened to have a beef bouillon paste on hand and used that to finishing seasoning. 

Add your chicken or beef stock, and about 2/3's of your black-eyed peas (save the rest for something else!) Stir and cover. Reduce heat and let simmer for 30 minutes or until the black-eyed peas are fully tender. Adjust seasoning and serve.