Hello 2012!

Our new year is off to a lovely start! We had a really nice brunch with friends and an afternoon of visiting and letting the dog run wild chasing our friends adorable white boxer. Last night we sat down and wrote out some ideas and goals for the new year and just let it soak in what an incredible year it will be!
Alot of big things are in store for our little family in the coming months. This year we will be moving, getting married, starting new jobs and thinking about having another baby! I am feeling lucky having so much to look forward to.

I checked out a cookbook I hadn't picked up in awhile the other day and found a few recipes to try out. It's an oldie but a goodie ~ Moosewood Restaurant Low Fat Favourites (of course they spell favourite without the "u" since that is how they roll in the states, but I just can't)

I chose three dishes to make for dinner and they were quite good and went together very well, as the book suggested they might.

First up was Garlicky Black-Eyed Peas'N'Greens


2 cups dried black-eyed peas
4 garlic cloves, peeled
3/4 lb collard greens (on sale at whole foods sparking this whole menu)
1 tbsp olive oil
2-4 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp dried thyme
salt and pepper

cooked brown rice
chopped green onions
lemon wedges

Rinse the peas. Place in soup pot with the garlic cloves and enough water to cover. Bring to boil, then lower heat, cover and cook for 45 min, until tender, adding water occasionally as needed. The black-eyed peas should be moist but not soupy, it is ideal when most of the water has been absorbed at the end of cooking. When they are tender, if most of the water has not been absorbed, lightly drain them. Cover and set aside.
Rinse the greens and set aside.
In a large skillet, heat the oil and saute the minced garlic and thyme for 1 min, stirring constantly. Add the damp greens and continue to stir until they are wilted but still bright green. Stir the greens into the black-eyed peas and mix. Add s+p. Serve on rice, topped with green onions and lemon wedges.

We had this with Cucumbers Vinaigrette and Baked Sweet Potato Salad with Yogurt Cilantro dressing. Yumm!

I am looking forward to trying a lot more new recipes this year!