It may surprise you to know that growing up, I wasn’t a very adventurous eater. When it came to eating out, I had my favorites and I stuck to them. And, to be truthful, those habits still linger around today. If I go to my favorite Japanese restaurant, I’m getting Pork Katsu. If it’s Chinese delivery, I’m all about the Cashew Nut Chicken. My tendency to stick to habits is one of the reasons that I appreciate having friends who encourage me to at least TRY new foods, even if I’d never even heard of them before. Fortunately, I had my friends on hand when it came time to test the new Southern Style line of vegetables from Allens Vegetables.
Launched just last month, Allens new line of “Southern Style” vegetables, introduced 23 new varieties of canned vegetables ranging from Seasoned Collared Green to Succotash. Founded in 1926, Allens is a family-owned business that continues to grow and pack frozen and canned vegetables for sale throughout the US. The new South Southern Style vegetables are pre-seasoned to provide the spicy kick that is commonly associated with Southern cooking.
This weekend, I had the opportunity to try two (kind of three) vegetables that I’d never had before (I was so sheltered): Allens Seasoned Collard Greens, Seasoned Black Eye Peas, and Seasoned Cabbage. Since I was unfamiliar with how to cook any of these unfamiliar veggies, my friend Shao took the cooking reins and taught me about seasoning and how to properly heat the canned vegetables.
To prepare the Allens Seasoned Collard Greens, we added salt, pepper, and seasoning salt. We brought the greens to a boil and then let them simmer covered for about 7 minutes. The end result was two very happy guys who raved about how these were the BEST collard greens they’d ever had. They very quickly devoured the whole can and even had to put some back so I could make sure to get a taste.
We cooked the Allens Seasoned Cabbage with basic salt and pepper, allowing it to heat and simmer to help reduce some of the fluid. To me, the cabbage tasted just like brussel sprouts, which I love, although the softer texture of the cabbage wasn’t something I was used to.
Next was the Allens Seasoned Blackeye Peas. First of all, I have to say these peas look like beans. Or more precisely, they look like baked beans that forgot to put sunscreen on their backs when they went out to the beach, causing one area of the bean aka pea to be darker than the others. Am I showing off my cooking novice-ness by admitting that I hadn’t ever seen a blackeye pea before? Either way, they looked like beans to me. Maybe that’s why we ended up preparing them like baked beans by adding sugar, honey, and barbeque sauce and then letting the peas simmer for 5 minutes while soaking up the flavor. I’m not sure how blackeye peas are supposed to take, but with all of the mix-ins, these tasted just like baked beans with a slightly milder aftertaste. Even with all of the sugar that was added, I could still taste the heat from the red peppers.
Overall, all three of the Allens Southern Style vegetables we tried really helped to complete our dinner. There was lots of flavor and definitely a few “Mmms.” I’d be curious to hear if these taste like “authentic” Southern style vegetables, since my palette isn’t really familiar with those flavors.
If you’d like to learn more about Allens Southern Style vegetables, you can visit their website at www.allens.com. Allens Southern Style Vegetables are on sale now in stores such as Wal-mart and Publix nation-wide.
Well, I'm Southern–hillbilly, really–and I make black eyed peas pretty often. I would never have guessed that those are black-eyed peas. They look like their mama plant was sneaking off with a pinto behind daddy b.e. pea's back. Strange. And not southern.
Well, I'm Southern–hillbilly, really–and I make black eyed peas pretty often. I would never have guessed that those are black-eyed peas. They look like their mama plant was sneaking off with a pinto behind daddy b.e. pea's back. Strange. And not southern.
HAHAHA! 🙂 I kept on insisting that those “peas” looked like beans!
How does one actually prepare black-eyed peas? I was totally winging it (clearly.)
I usually get dried black-eyed peas and make them just like any other bean. Soak 'em overnight, boil em with meat, eat. Sometimes I throw in some diced ham, but I usually just cook it with salt pork. Vegetarians can substitute peanut butter or olive oil. Anything that adds some oil and flavor will do. From a can, just put it in a pot and warm it up, I guess. Oh, yeah. And you have to serve it with biscuits and some kind of greens. I like mustard greens, but collards are traditional.
I usually get dried black-eyed peas and make them just like any other bean. Soak 'em overnight, boil em with meat, eat. Sometimes I throw in some diced ham, but I usually just cook it with salt pork. Vegetarians can substitute peanut butter or olive oil. Anything that adds some oil and flavor will do. From a can, just put it in a pot and warm it up, I guess.
Oh, yeah. And you have to serve it with biscuits and some kind of greens. I like mustard greens, but collards are traditional.
So it looks like I wasn't TOO far off with my pseudo-baked beans recipe. I think I prefer mustard greens of collards, by I doubt the other testers would agree with me.
HAHAHA! 🙂 I kept on insisting that those “peas” looked like beans! How does one actually prepare black-eyed peas? I was totally winging it (clearly.)
So it looks like I wasn't TOO far off with my pseudo-baked beans recipe. I think I prefer mustard greens of collards, by I doubt the other testers would agree with me.
Black-eyed peas are BEANS! And, they are a very Southern thing to eat. And, you MUST serve them on New Year's Day along with pork! If they're already seasoned in the can–you don't do anything else to them except heat and eat.
Black-eyed peas are BEANS! And, they are a very Southern thing to eat. And, you MUST serve them on New Year's Day along with pork!
If they're already seasoned in the can–you don't do anything else to them except heat and eat.
Hello! I wanted to let you know that I gave your blog an award!http://laughinglinz.blogspot.com/2010/02/one-lo…
Hello! I wanted to let you know that I gave your blog an award!
http://laughinglinz.blogspot.com/2010/02/one-lo…
For the cabbage only salt and pepper? We love Allen's seasoned cabbage and would love to duplicate, if possible.
For the cabbage only salt and pepper? We love Allen's seasoned cabbage and would love to duplicate, if possible.
Yup. Salt and Pepper only. There might be a better way to prepare it, but that's how we did it. 🙂
Wait…the peas actually are beans? Next thing you'll be telling me is that tomatoes are fruits!
Yup. Salt and Pepper only. There might be a better way to prepare it, but that's how we did it. 🙂
Wait…the peas actually are beans? Next thing you'll be telling me is that tomatoes are fruits!