Sometimes it just amazes me the number of people that think because I have changed my eating habits, that we never have “good” food on our supper table.
Seriously, you don’t have to eat out of a box, or a can, or a bag, or in a restaurant to eat delicious well prepared meals!
{I don’t even have to smother what I do prepare in condiments to add flavor.}
Now there are moments that I miss cooking with bacon, sautéing in butter, making sauces loaded with cream or even deep frying my fries or chicken, but for the most part I am quite content with my choices.
And they are definitely paying off!
I mean who is going to complain about losing 75 pounds?!
I found a recipe in Food and Wine magazine a couple of years back that our family really enjoyed, but was put away when I started changing things around here.
Recently when I was organizing (and rewriting) recipes I came across this wonderful dish and decided to remake it for our supper.
Substituting olive oil for bacon grease and using all fresh ingredients (yes it takes away the convenience, but it is so worth it), I made healthy comfort food just perfect for a rainy winter day or even for celebrating Fat Tuesday on the 12th!
Ingredients:
for the peas….
4 scallions
1/2 cup sweet onion, diced
1 celery rib, finely chopped
1/2 medium green bell pepper, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 large bay leaf
2 sprigs of fresh thyme, strip leaves from stem
1/2 teaspoon of red-pepper flakes
1 pound fresh black-eye peas, cooked ahead of time
1 tablespoon Tony Chachere’s no-salt Creole seasoning (taste after the peas have been added back to the mixture and add more for a more Creole taste)
1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (or homemade no sodium chicken broth)
for the shrimp….
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine (you can also use unsweetened white grape juice)
Cook scallions, sweet onion, celery, bell pepper, bay leaves, garlic, thyme, red-pepper flakes, & Tony Chachere’s seasoning in 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a cast iron dutch oven over medium heat, stirring occasionally until vegetables are pale golden, about 8-10 minutes.
Add black-eye peas and broth (I use homemade left from stewing chicken) and simmer five minutes.
Transfer the black-eye pea mixture to a bowl and set aside for a few minutes.
Heat about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the same dutch oven over medium-high heat, until it shimmers. Season shrimp with 1/4 tsp. sea salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Cook shrimp with garlic, stirring occasionally, until just opaque (shrimp will not be fully cooked), about 3 minutes.
Add wine and bring to a boil, then briskly simmer 2 minutes.
Add black-eye pea mixture and simmer until just heated through (mixture will be juicy). Taste to see if you want more of a Creole taste and add another tablespoon of the Tony Chachere’s if you desire.
Discard bay leaf before serving.
You can serve this over rice, or just enjoy it alone.
Looks delicious doesn’t it?
I assure you, it is!
Linking up with Foodie Friday, Food on Friday and On the Menu Monday this week.
Seasons at Rosebriar 
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