Black Eyed Pea Curry with Swiss Chard & Roasted Eggplant

Name: Black Eyed Pea Curry with Swiss Chard & Roasted Eggplant
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Southern
Ingredients: 1 15oz Can Black Eyed Peas (salt-free, drained and rinsed); 1 Medium Eggplant; 1 Tsp Minced Garlic; 1 Bunch (5 Cups) Chopped Swiss Chard; 1/2 of a Large Sweet Onion (finely chopped); 1 Tsp Curry Powder; 1/2 Tsp Turmeric; 1/2 Tsp Paprika; 1/4 Tsp Cumin; 1/4 Cup Tomato Paste (salt-free); 3 TB Water

December 28, 2015 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 135 Comments

An easy quick curry for a warming meal any night of the week. Black Eyed Pea Curry with Swiss Chard & Roasted Eggplant is packed with creamy veggie power to satisfy even this biggest plant-based skeptic!

As we find ourselves with only 4 days left until the new year is upon us, it’s my obligation to bring you some well wishes and luck in the coming year. And I’m bringing that to you in the form of BEANS! You may remember from years passed that the humble black eyed pea is a Southern good luck charm and tradition. One of the most common explanations of this bring so big in the South dates back to the Civil War. The Union soldiers had destroyed and stole all the southern crops and the Confederates were lucky enough to have these peas left (which were considered to be animal feed) to eat and help them make it through he brutal winter. The peas were also given to the slaves, which was the one thing they had to celebrate with after the Emancipation Proclamation. There are also stories that date back to ancient Egyptian times.

I’m a big supporter of the black eyed pea tradition. There are many other good luck foods, from grapes (12 grapes at midnight!) to long noodles, but I like the bean…or pea. When eaten on New Years Day, they are said to bring you luck and prosperity in the new year. Traditionally served with collard greens, corn bread, or stewed tomatoes. Well, I twisted that up a bit and brought in some “Rebecca” flare to the black eyed peas.

A little Southern/Indian fusion? Cuisine fusion is a trendy thing, right? I think Southern/Indian will be a thing in 2016 (feel free to quote me on that!). So I’m going to lead the movement today with this black eyed pea curry! I think you’ll like it just as much as me 😉 (Let’s just hope it doesn’t bring us bad luck by “twisting” the pea tradition too much!) Now, black eyed peas are beans, not “peas”, but bean or pea, they are legumes regardless. One of my favorite legumes to be exact! I think if I had to rank my favorite legumes it would look like this: Chickpeas, Red Lentils, Black Eyed Peas, Black Beans, Adzuki Beans (well yea, top 5).

I actually struggled this year with getting myself to feel “safe” eating beans again after the “Bean Incident of 2015“. I still haven’t sprouted any form of legume since then. I don’t think I’ll ever sprout any bean but maybe lentils again. Lentils are easier and safer! Still, even almost a year later, the though of sprouted chickpeas/cranberry beans makes me sick. I went months without eating beans (besides hummus) after that incident. Slowly I brought some of my favorite bean bowls back, veggies burgers, etc. And then this curry which I can report made me very happy and gave me a little more bean trust!

I do tend to eat a lot of “dangerous” foods though. Mango skin, Yucca, but these tend to be my favorite foods, so I’ll take my changes still. Beans shouldn’t be scary, they’re much safer than an under-cooked yucca! And for this recipe, I’m using black eyed peas. LUCK! They are a symbol of luck, not bean death! Although I’m not even Southern and I’m twisting this dish with Indian, so maybe….No, I think the culinary gods have me in their favor on this one. (I’ll just keep telling myself that). I did keep more of the Southern tradition in here than you think. Instead of collards, I used Swiss chard, and instead of stewed tomatoes, I just used tomato paste.

No cornbread though. Although, that would be a mighty fine pairing with this curry! Maybe I should have made a cornbread naan to share too. Although that may have been pushing my luck a bit too much! I did include some lovely roasted eggplant, makes everything so creamy, the new secret to a fantastic filly curry in my opinion. Creamy, comforting, plant-based curry goodness, that I’m promising you will bring you some good luck…or at least some New Year’s Day smiles!

Black Eyed Pea Curry with Swiss Chard & Roasted Eggplant