Purple Hull Peas

I had never even heard of purple hull peas until this past weekend when we went to our farmers market and they were selling them fresh. Man, are they good! Joe likes to think of himself as a bean (pea) aficionado and he told me time and time again while eating tonight that this was the absolute best (bean) pea soup he has ever eaten. I say it was due to the fresh peas, or maybe it was the cook...?! Or maybe, just maybe, he was really hungry.
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2 pints fresh purple hull peas
4-6 slices of thick, center-cut smokey bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
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In a dutch oven, brown bacon with onion and garlic.
Add peas and water, adding enough water to cover peas plus an inch; add cilantro.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer approximately 20-30 minutes until peas are done.
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I topped mine off with homemade pico de gallo and served it with a green onion and butter-topped cornbread muffins.

McKerr Muffins

And this is yet another delicious recipe out of my new Cooking Light cookbook.

Cooking Spray
4 (2 1/2 inch) mushrooms
2 tsps fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp chopped fresh dill
1/8 tsp ground red pepper (I used more because we like it hot!)
1 tsp butter
1 1/2 cups egg substitute
2 whole wheat English muffins, split and toasted
4 (1 ounce) slices Canadian bacon
4 (1 ounce) slices part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp finely chopped green onions

Heat non-stick skillet over medium heat; coat with cooking spray. Remove stems from mushrooms and discard stems (I also cleaned out some of that weird stuff on the inside). Add mushrooms to skillet, under sides up. Pour 1/2 tsp lemon juice into each cap. Sprinkle evenly with dill and red pepper. Cook 6 minutes or until mushrooms are browned; turn mushrooms over and cook 1 minute more. Remove from pan, cover and keep warm.

Wipe same pan with a paper towel. Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add egg substitute and allow to set about 30 seconds. Gently scrape cooked part of egg substitute to center and continue doing so ever so often until all egg substitute is set (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat.

Preheat broiler.

Arrange muffin halves cut sides up on a baking sheet. Top each muffin half with 1 Canadian bacon slice, about 1/3 cup scrambled egg substitute and 1 mushroom cap, stem side down. Gently press mushroom cap down. Top each mushroom cap with 1 cheese slice. Broil 1 1/2 minutes or until cheese melts. Sprinkle with green onions and serve immediately.

I served mine with jalapeno hash browns and tomato slices.

The husband was happy!