I know I’m a little late posting these recipes, but this week has been unexpectedly busy! While, this menu is traditionally made on New Year’s Day, it really is delicious any time of year and it’s all so healthy!

Black eyed peas contain antioxidants like flavonoids, which help the body fight disease. The fiber in black eyed peas helps the body absorb flavonoids and other helpful nutrients. Black eyed peas are an excellent source of Calcium, Iron, Vitamin A, Magnesium, Zinc, Copper, Manganese and Folate.

Collard greens are also very nutritious and one of my favorite greens. Collard greens are an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C, and calcium, a rich source of vitamin K, and a good source of iron, vitamin B-6, and magnesium. They also contain thiamin, niacin, pantothenic acid, and choline. It stands to reason that we should all be eating more of these two foods!

I can remember my grandmother, who lived in Georgia, making a big pot of collard greens, mustard greens and creasy greens and serving them over her homemade cornbread (easy recipe in this post) with some of the potlikker (broth from the greens). I loved this as a child and still do today! I sometimes get annoyed because many people think that Southern food is all deep fried and unhealthy, but this is far from the truth and these recipes are proof of that.

If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you are really missing out! I use mine for almost everything! Cast iron is the ultimate nonstick cookware if you season it properly and clean it with oil and coarse salt! Cast iron also adds extra iron to your food so that’s another plus! I have several skillets that belonged to my grandmother and also a cast iron cornbread pan that makes cornbread sticks!

I’ve been collecting vintage silverware for quite a while and love to use these pieces when we entertain! I just purchased a fish service with mother-of-pearl handles that I’m excited to use. They need a good polish, but they’re beautiful and still in their original wooden box. I actually stumbled on these in an antique store when I was looking for another vintage fur coat! If you’re interested in starting a silverware collection of your own, Etsy has a large selection!

Recipe

I served the black eyed peas and collard greens with fried potatoes, coconut rice (the recipe is in this post) and chocolate pie! It was all very delicious!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post…I’m planning on posting more Southern recipes over the course of this year…things I ate as a child and recipes that I’ve never tried!

Are you from the South and love traditional Southern recipes and/or are you curious to learn more? Let me know in the comments!