Black-Eyed Pea and Turnip Soup {Gluten Free}

We got some white turnips in our box this week and had fun cooking with them. My hubby came up with this soup recipe which also used some black-eyed peas we were wanting to try. If you decide to use dried beans you'll want to make them the day before or overnight. The soup turned out to be very tasty. The turnips were mild and really tasted similar to a potato and the broth was delicious! On one of these oddly cool summer evenings why not make some tasty soup!

Recipe: Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
3 pieces of uncured bacon, diced
1 tbsp butter (or olive oil)
1 medium onion, diced
5 celery stalks, chopped
5 carrots, chopped
5 turnips, chopped
3 cups of black-eyed peas (cooked)
4 cups of vegetable broth
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:
1. If you have pre-cooked black-eyed peas then skip this step. I started with dried peas so I cooked them per the instructions on the bag which was boil for a couple minutes and let soak for 4 hrs. Then drain and rinse with water to wash off the peas. At this point I noticed that the peas weren't fully cooked so I put them back in the water for another couple hours with the heat on low. They still were a little al dente but I decided to finish them off in the soup.

2. In a large soup pot over medium high heat brown the diced bacon ~3min. Add the butter (or olive oil) and the diced onions. Cook until onions are slightly caramelized 3-5min.

3. Add the celery, carrots, and turnips and sauté for about 5 min. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a medium boil. Simmer for 20-30 min or until beans and other veggies are fully cooked and fork tender. Remove bay leaf.

Serve hot with corn bread.