Quick Southern Supper: Black-Eyed Peas, Collard Greens, Rice and Homemade Fried Okra

It’s Food Friday (a day late!). A couple of nights ago we had one of my favorite meals, and it was so good. It’s also a really quick one.

A Southern supper from a few cans

I’m trying to keep a meal plan for the week, and this was our Southern night. You can go canned like we did:

• A couple of cans of Southern black-eyed peas
• A big can of Southern collard greens
• Some yummy rice with butter, salt and pepper on top

That’s it. You don’t even need the fried okra to make this a meal. But oh, it’s worth it.

Fresh okra in Utah!

The other day I went to the Asian market to find bitter melon and a few other ingredients for a fancy ramen night (coming up soon!). And there, right in front of me, was fresh okra. I’m here in Utah, where a lot of people don’t know what okra is, so I grabbed it right up, knowing I’d make my wife and me homemade fried okra.

How I make fried okra

I know a lot of people make fried okra with cornmeal, but I just use flour with seasonings.

For the seasoned flour:

• Flour
• Bojangles seasoning (if you know Bojangles, you know their seasoned fries are really good)
• Black pepper
• A little garlic powder
• Some crushed red pepper
• A little salt

Steps:

1. Slice the okra thick.
2. Dip the slices in an egg wash.
3. Toss them in the seasoned flour.
4. Fry them in a pan with some oil, flipping every so often, until they’re nice and golden brown.

For dipping, keep it simple with ranch or Caesar. I actually like Caesar a little better, but my wife prefers ranch.

A taste of home

This is a very Southern meal: collard greens, black-eyed peas and rice. It takes me back to when I was a kid growing up in North Carolina.

And here’s a fun Southern tradition. At New Year’s, people eat black-eyed peas, which stand for cents, and collard greens, which stand for dollar bills, for a successful new year. New Year’s isn’t here yet, but it’s just fun.

Have you ever tried collard greens or fried okra? Cornmeal or flour? Ranch or Caesar? Let me know in the comments!