Tag Archives: Spinach

Sometimes midway through cooking I’ll decide to (or need to?) go a different way with a recipe.  For instance, I completely had a 180 change on a recipe from Full Belly Farm suggesting how to use the black eyed peas I got in my farm box.

It was just a basic black eyed peas recipe (sans ham hock, though) that can be treated as a complete meal or as some kind of side dish.  I’ve never made black eyed peas before, though, because usually the only time I eat them is on New Year’s Day after my dad has made them and thrown a dime at the bottom for one lucky person to find.  I’ve never actually attempted the recipe myself, because I think of it as just a one-day-a-year recipe.

Anyways, we were busy watching tv and I left the beans on the stove for toooo long.  They basically became mushmonsters.  But I persevered.  I kept sautéing garlic and spinach.  I wanted this recipe to happen!

As I tried to mix the sauteed vegetables with the beans, however, it became clear that we did not have regular black eyed peas on our hands.  Ze boyfriend suggested making a sort of refried black eyed peas thing with our mushy beans, but I was struck with genius when I countered his idea with mine: patties!

So we added two eggs, some panko breadcrumbs, and Worcestershire sauce, and pan friend those babies.  Ta-da, black eyed peas patties!

Now, don’t expect them to taste exactly like your beloved meat burgers, but I have to say, these filled us up and were simply divine with barbecue sauce on top.  Here’s how to capitalize on my mistake:

Black Eyed Patties
Adapted from a Fully Belly Farm Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 cups dry black eyed peas
-1 bunch fresh garlic
-two cups fresh spinach
- 2 eggs
-1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
-salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper to taste

Make it Happen:
1.  Rinse beans and make sure to separate out any rocks, bad beans, or stems.
2.  Put rinsed beans on the stove and cover with water.  Simmer on medium heat for 40-50 minutes (or as long as it takes for them to get mushy).
3.  Sautee fresh garlic and spinach in a pan with olive oil.  You want the spinach to get wilty and the garlic to get soft.
4.  Add the mushed beans to the garlic/spinach, then also add the eggs and breadcrumbs.
5.   Add Worcestershire sauce and spices to the mix as well.
6.  Make palm-sized patties.
7.  Put a pan (I used my cast iron skillet) on medium heat and pan fry the patties.
8.  Warm your oven to 250F and keep the patties in there as you make the rest.

I didn’t have any buns, so we couldn’t have proper burgers, but with a little barbecue sauce and lettuce they were still absolutely de-lishhh.  See, perseverance can sometimes make even better recipes.  We could have had just plain old black eyed peas, but instead we discovered that they could magically become black eyed patties!  They made a good late-night, post-bar snack too