But Now I Got A Bellyache

I bought two bags of black eyed peas thinking I'd have lunch for the week.  Instead of remaking Slow Cooker Hoppin' John, for the second bag, I made a straight soup stove top with carrots, celery and tomatoes, garlic and jalapenos, lots of cilantro and tomatillo sauce as a garnish.  I guess these homemade hot sauces are like my version of the Sofrito that is popular in Spanish cooking here.

I feel like some foods are for adults that have lived to appreciate food more intricately.  All these tastes like onions, certain vegetables, the full bodied flavors of a righteous bean for example.  These are all eats that I've come to appreciate much later in life.  The thought of a pot of beans was always foreign to me.  My sister R actually got me into making them through suggestion years ago.  She often spoke of having a pot on the stove and now that is what we lived off of through the winter.  Black, pinto, Great Northern, black-eyed peas (technically a bean), 15 bean soup ( a favorite), split pea, they are all incredibly hearty and easy.  Flavor with smoked turkey necks, ham hocks, salt pork, bacon or ham chunks.  Also, any herbs can change the theme. Cilantro, parsley, thyme, oregano, basil, you name it.  Use onion, garlic, carrots and celery for your base.  If you like, peppers and then tomatoes in the final stage once the beans are soft.  Adding acidity to the beans before cooked won't allow them to soften.  Don't trust the sites that say salt won't harden the beans.  I've made every bean error and one of them was salting too early.  Salt when they have already softened. 

Tip: You don't have to pre-soak if you're using the slow cooker but when you can, you always should soak the beans overnight.  This makes them so much easier to digest and breaks down some of the sugars that can make you gassy.  Also, it loosens the field dirt and pesticides from the bean, so I also throw out that soaking liquid.  Some sites say to use it.  No way Jose.