ALMOND BLACK EYES

2 1 pound cans black-eyed peas

¼ cup butter/margarine

¼ cup coarsely chopped onion

1/3 cup (packed) brown sugar

1 Tbsp cornstarch

½ tsp salt

1 ½ Tbsp vinegar

2 tsp Worcestershire

½ cup diced almonds, roasted

Drain peas, reserving 1 cup liquid. Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add onion, sauté until tender-crisp. Mix in brown sugar, cornstarch, salt and reserved liquid. Cook, stirring until mixture comes to a boil and is slightly thickened. Stir in peas, vinegar, Worcestershire and almonds. Heat in saucepan or pour into 1-quart buttered casserole. Cover; heat in 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Yield: 6 servings.

(Mrs. Mamie Booker, Pensacola, FL © Southern Living 1968)

·        Rather than risk the contents of the cans of black-eyes, I’d use fresh black-eyes, boil them to softness with salt and an onion, and reserve the pot liquor for use in the above recipe.

Gluten-free and Vegetarian/Vegan Recipes

To meet my needs of being “gluten-free”, there are no ingredients that have wheat in them. Since one out of one-hundred people now have problems with the way the United States processes their foods, there are plenty of brands which are marked GF Gluten-free. However, read all the way around the label and determine if there might be traces of wheat or if the product was processed in a plant or on machinery that also handles wheat. (These statements are usually NOT found near the list of ingredients.) If this is the case and you are gluten-sensitive or have a wheat-toxicity, don’t use it!

I also deleted recipes which called for hidden gluten – like shrimp, frozen mangoes and parsnips.

Vegetarian foods allow the use of milk, honey, eggs, and other non-kill animal products; vegans do not. I have endeavored to post only recipes with vegan-appropriate ingredients. If I really liked something, though, that was vegetarian rather than vegan, I will note it.

Whenever possible, use non-GMO products (non-genetically modified).  If you think gmo’s are ok for you, you haven’t read any science fiction books, let alone Charles Darwin.

These recipes are not an attempt to substitute wheat or animal ingredients with something else. These recipes are “naturally” or originally gluten-free and vegetarian/vegan.