New Year's Black Eyed Pea Soup

Happy New Year! Even though we don't live in the South, I thought some black eyed pea soup for New Year's Day sounded good.

1 bag dry black eyed peas
3 ribs celery
3 carrots
1 large leek
6 cloves garlic
3-4 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon roasted garlic bits
2 packets sodium free Chicken broth flavoring
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 inch piece fresh ginger
2 bay leaves
1 whole Jalapeño
28 ounces of no salt added tomatoes
1 bunch Swiss chard (about 6 large leaves)
olive oil

1. Rinse and soak peas overnight
2. Slice the celery, carrots, and the leek then place into the soup pot. I used a 6 quart dutch oven.
3. Saute the vegetables in some olive oil for about 10 minutes until softened
4. Peel and slice the garlic (you can see the size of the pieces in the photo) then add to the pot
5. Cook for a few more minutes then add enough water to fill half the pot
6. Add the Italian seasoning, roasted garlic, chicken broth packets, and ground ginger
7. Grate the fresh ginger as much as possible before you grate your fingers. Add the piece to the pot. I used my new Microplane zester. It was easy to get the ground ginger off by pouring a little water over the zester into the pot.
8. Toss in the whole Jalapeño and the bay leaves
9. Cook the soup over low heat for 2-3 hours until the peas are soft.
10. Slice the chard into 1 inch wide pieces and add to the cooked soup. This chard is one of the few vegetables that we harvested from our Winter garden (most of the seeds didn't germinate).
11. Add the canned tomatoes last.

We enjoyed this hearty soup for lunch and dinner with some crackers on the side. Adding some freshly ground black pepper also enhanced the flavor.