Black Eyed Pea, Collards & Sweet Potato Soup

Southern comfort in a bowl is pretty much all you need to know about this soup. If you know anything about "pot liquor/likker" after a batch of collard greens or black eyed peas have been simmering all day-- then you know just what kind of liquid gold that that broth those vegetables create truly is. This soup gives you a whole bowl of that deliciousness married with a few of my all time favorite southern vegetables- collards, black eyed peas and sweet potatoes. I made this on a weeknight so I didn't go through the trouble of making any bread- but if you're feeling fancy, whip you up some honey cornbread muffins to go a long with this and just have yourself a good ole time. :)

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil

48 oz vegetable broth

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1” cubes

2 cups black eyed peas (buy frozen bag instead of dried peas to cut out prep time)

2 cups collard greens, washed, stems removed and cut into strips (about 1 bunch of greens)

1 can diced tomatoes, drained (I used Hunt's tomato basil flavor, but original is fine)

1 medium sweet onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 Tbsp brown sugar (start with 2 then add more as needed 20 min into cooking)

2 tsp sea salt

3-5 dashes cayenne pepper

2 tsp onion powder

2 heaping tsp smoked paprika

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large pot (with a lid) over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and stir occasionally untilteh onions are translucent. About 5 minutes.

2. Add broth and all seasonings to pot.

3. Add black eyed peas, tomatoes, and washed and cut collards to the pot

4. Put the lid on and allow broth to boil 45 minutes on medium-high heat

5. Add sweet potatoes.

6. Cook an additional 20-25 minutes on medium heat. Potatoes should still hold their shape and not disintegrate.

7. Soup broth will start to thicken from the potatoes during this time.

8. Taste a piece of the greens and peas to make sure they’ve softened to your liking. If not, let it cook another 10-15 minutes.

9. Taste your broth. If you need to add any more seasoning, do so now and allow soup to cook another 5 minutes for the seasonings to incorporate.

10. Serve hot!