All Things Bright

I have a years-long habit of tearing out recipes, pictures, ideas, and how-tos from magazines and then storing them away in an accordion folder that I think of as my 'Future Files.' I also have a years-long tradition of only adding to the Future Files and seldom (if ever) going back through them to actually act on those recipes, pictures, ideas, and how-tos. 

While it takes up a lot less space than simply saving a decade or so of magazines, that accordion folder is HEAVY. One of my goals for the new year is to lighten things up in all senses of the word. In that spirit, I want to try to a new recipe each week from the Future Files. Awhile back, I bought a planner/cookbook for organizing recipes, so my plan is to pull something from the Future Files each week, make it, and decide whether or not it's a keeper. Keepers earn a spot in the cookbook. At the end of the year, I'll have a go-to resource for meal planning.

RECIPE: Black-Eyed Pea Ribollita

MODS: 

• I started with dry black-eyed peas that I cooked in the slow cooker the day before. I prefer the texture of dry beans, and I'd rather just cook them in a slow cooker in the same amount of time that I might otherwise spend just soaking them. 
• I honestly just really didn't want to go to the store (plus COVID), so I made a lot of modifications to the ingredients list to suit what we already had in our pantry. I used canned greens instead of fresh, and I used a small can of tomato paste instead of crushed tomatoes. 
• I also subbed balsamic vinegar for red wine vinegar. 
• I'm not above an ad lib, so I added a little garlic powder and some smoked paprika, just because I know I like those flavors in a bean soup.
• Finally I skipped the ciabatta and Parmesan, and toasted up the last of a loaf of bread with some mozzarella on top. 

VERDICT: An easy and tasty way to get your lucky black-eyed peas and greens for New Year's Day, but probably not a recipe to put on repeat year-round--not going in the cookbook.