Good Ol' Southern Soup And Cornbread

 

Here's a nice vegetarian twist on a Southern soup dish.

'Hearty Henry'* Soup-serves 6

6 cups water

3 cups black-eyes peas, homemade or canned

1 cup cooked brown riced

1 cup okra, frozen and sliced

1 cup carrots, cut in ½ moons

1 cup onion, diced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp minced parsley

2 tsp granulated onion

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp pepper

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Sautee carrots and onion in a saucepan in olive oil over medium-low heat for 5 minutes or until caramelized. Add the black-eyed peas, water and seasonings. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring. Add rice and cook for another 10 minutes. Then, add the okra and cook for another 10 minutes. All in all, it will take roughly 45-50 minutes.

Add pepper flakes (if desired) and serve.

If you want to make your meal even more 'Southern', use this cornbread recipe as a side. It might seem complicated, but it's actually pretty easy to make once you get started. It serves 4-6 and takes roughly 25 minutes to make.

Wet ingredients

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

4 tsp agave (sweetener found in the baking aisle)

6 tbsp oil or butter, whatever you prefer

½ frozen, defrosted corn

2 tbsp minced jalapenos with seeds (optional)

Dry ingredients

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup flour

4 tbsp sugar**

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

First, preheat the oven to 375 F. Grease a muffin pan.

Combine the wet ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. In a separate, larger bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry bowl with a wooden spoon until somewhat smooth and well-blended. Then, spoon the batter into the holes in the pan until they are about ¾ full and bake until lightly browned, 10-15 minutes. Cool and serve!

Enjoy!

*Feel free to change the name to something a little less silly. Or more, your pick. :)

**I personally do not use sugar or other sweetener in cornbread, but I got that from my Arkansas-born mother. It is made differently in different parts of the South. Just like each state has its own version (or versions!) of the 'accent', they also have their own versions of things like cornbread, barbecue, greens, etc.