After being nominated one of the Babble’s 100 Mom Food Blogger (Thank you all for your support <3) I’ve been contacted to be part of a blog tour to promote Ann Gentry’s new cookbook
Vegan Family Meals
Couple of days later the mailman rand twice and I had a copy of the book. Eagerly opened the package and start reading. The book, as Ann says is filled with flavorful and satisfying recipes that support everyone’s health, personal ethics and the environment that we all share.
While reading the book I learned about dairy-free cheese, and not just soy-based ones, and about vegan butter which already conquered my kitchen after finding out my cholesterol was a little higher.
Except my daughter, we are all vegetarian, although we do eat fish 3-5 times a year. I’m the only one trying to go vegan. Reading this book helped me a lot understanding that going vegan doesn’t mean flavorless.
I’m still cooking meals full with flavor, trying to have at every meal some grains, veggies and fruit. Watch out for some vegan meals I’m going to share soon.
The recipes are well explained, easy to follow and beautifully photographed.
If you have never heard about Ann Gentry before, it’s about time you should. She’s the creator and owner of Real Food Daily, the only restaurant in the Los Angeles area that serves a 100% vegan menu using organic foods.
Read more about her, by visiting her blog
and like Real Food Daily on Facebook
At the moment, the book is priced $16.50 on Amazon, with an $8.50 discount.
Even if you are not vegan, I highly advice you to get your own copy. You’ll learn so much and I have the feeling you’ll consider at least from time to time have a vegan dinner.
For my blog stop I picked a black eyes pea and red pepper soup.
Black-eyed peas get their names from their characteristic appearance. They are white legumes with a small black dot resembling an eye. These delicious beans are well known in Southern and Southwestern cooking, but the nutrition of the black-eyed pea makes it an excellent addition to any menu
I followed the recipe from the book except the addition of collard greens since no one in my family eats them.
Black-eyed pea and red pepper soup is an easy to make one. You start by boiling the peas, mine took about 2 hours, until the peas are soft but still hold their shape.
In a pan you saute the onion, adding the celery and belle pepper to it when it’s translucent. Cook a little bit more until the veggies start to soften.
Add then some tomatoes and corn. In the end add the peas and cook until all the veggies are cooked.
My advice would be to soak the peas ahead of time, this way the cooking times is reduced to 30-40 minutes.
Black-eyed pea and red pepper soup
*recipe from Vegan Family Meals
Ingredients
1 cup dried black-eyed peas
2 small bay leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
~ 6 cups of water
1 tsp sea salt plus more to taste
2 tsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 can (15oz) whole tomatoes, with juices
3 ounces collard greens, stemmed and cut into 1/2 inch squares
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
Combine the black-eyed peas, bay leaves, and garlic in a heavy saucepan. Add enough water to cover the peas by about 2 inches., then bring the water to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 25 minutes, until the peas are par-cooked; they should be soft but still hold their shape. Add the 1 tsp of salt and cook 5 minutes longer.
Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 7 minutes. Add the celery and bell pepper, then cover and cook until the pepper begins to soften, about 4 minutes. Break the tomatoes by squeezing them in your hands over the pot, then add the tomatoes and their juices to the pot. Stir in the collard greens and corn to the pot. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the thyme, the 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and the cayenne pepper and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the black eyed peas and their cooking liquid and 3 cups of water to the pot. Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a simmer. Decrease the heat to medium-low and gently simmer until the peas and greens and tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.
Add more water, if needed, to thin the soup to the desired consistency. Stir in the cilantro, and season to taste with more salt and black pepper.
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.
That’s about it for today,
Sending you lots of love,
Roxana
{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }
this sounds like the perfect summer soup. i could use some right now!!!
That looks so yummy
I love the recipe and your pictures are always so pretty 
That cookbook sounds so interesting, I'm trying to make more vegan food for my family too and this sounds perfect.
Your soup is gorgeous. Congratulations on going vegan. I end up surprised at how many meals I make that are vegan-friendly even though everyone in the family is a total omnivore. Sometimes it's just necessary to take that step back and enjoy fruits, grain and vegetables.
Beautiful soup and photo! I love eating clean. I've been meaning to try real food daily for a long time now (always avoided the difficult parking situation in that area). This cookbook might just make me try the restaurant for the first time too!
lovely new appearance of the site Roxana
this soup looks delicious
New appearance looks wonderful & show all your pictures beautiful…Soup looks delicious & bet it tastes great..Thanks for introducing Ann Gentry..
I like your soup I know that is not only delicious but it is nutritious too.
This looks delicious and SO healthy! Love your blog and so glad to be a new follower!
Very pretty soup! Fantastic colors
Great recipe, thanks for sharing! Buzzed
This soup sounds delicious! I love black-eyed peas!
Roxana…your soup is a healthy one and I am sure it taste delicious too
Congrats being nominated one of the Babble's 100 Mom Food Blogger 
Such a beautiful and healthy soup! It looks delicious! And I love your bowl
PS…congrats on your nomination! You deserve it!!!
Congrats on the nomination..!!!
This soup looks amazing, healthy, delicious and I think very pretty!
Congratulations on the nomination! What an amazing achievement, and so well-deserved. Your soup looks delicious and I will have to check out this book. My two eldest girls are vegetarian, with one almost vegan. I am always looking for great cookbooks catering to their choices.
Well done.Always nice to hear somebody is rewarded for their efforts.
I love red pepper ,it is so expensive here>Will try this soup as I also like black eyed peas:)Btw..I am blogging now in english too on my blog:) Cheers
Congrats on the nomination…it's very well-deserved!
I am not vegan but i am interested in trying out vegan recipes since they seem different than what i normally eat. So, it would be a nice change! Your soup looks very hearty!
I love the soup that has lots of ingredients in it. It's healthy and gives nice colors. The black eyed pea look so cute. I didn't know the singer's name is actually the real pea name… sorry it was my first time seeing this kind of peas. =P Congrats on your nomination! I am your 692 voter! I'll support you until you go to Top 3!!!
This soup jumped off the page at me. I love beans, I love soup and I love spice. We've been having rainy weather too and this soup feels it could mesh with summer food but with some warmth. I actually just published a raw food tart recipe and echo your comment on no compromise on taste. Congrats on all the great opportunities coming your way Roxana. Well deserved acknowledgement of your talents!
What a beautiful soup! I love the ingredients! Sounds so good… I love black-eyed peas and they're so good for you too! Congrats on Babble Top 100 and on being on this book tour
Great job! And gorgeous photographs too! 
Thanks for sharing 
The soup looks delicious and gorgeous click too! I know eating Vegan is super good and waiting to see your upcoming recipes. Having said this, I really don't know if I can ever become Vegas…
Yes please! I'll take two bowls & some extra to freeze for later
Buzzed!
Looks beautiful–I really need to get a copy of her book. Cheese is one thing I will never give up, and I cannot eat soy, so I would love to hear about alternatives.
The soup sounds delicious! I like the addition of red pepper…one of my favorites!
The photos are beautiful, Roxana!
This sounds really really great! Looks really fresh and yummy
I like the soup. Yum!
This soup sounds wonderful and love the photo
Hope you have a wonderful weekend…hugs
Yum, Roxana, it looks great…and I am not just saying that because I am hungry right now!!!
The soup looks really great! Healthy and delicious!
Thank you for sharing this recipe with me Roxana! I need all the help I can get in the Vegan department. It really is a whole new experience learning to cook Vegan meals. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Such a healthy delicious looking soup….
It's so easy being vegan in the summertime when all of the lovely fresh colorful produce beckons from the farmer's market! I'm not vegan, but hubby and I have definitely cut way back on the amount of meat that we eat. This soup looks wonderful- so many healthful ingredients. Hope you have a great weekend! (Drove through your neck of the woods last weekend on our roundabout way to the mountains- I waved!)
@ Betty, hope everything was OK in my woods. We are visiting in laws in South Carolina
Congrats on top 9!!!!:))
How cool, I've been to her restaurant before, now I get to try making her dishes at home.
Very good soup. And a very good blog!
What a beautiful soup Roxana! The colors alone had me ready to gobble it down. I'll definitely check out the cookbook; it looks like a great one!
Oh congratulations on being in the top 100! That is really awesome. This soup looks so delicious and I am looking forward to making this because I really like black eyed peas!!
Congratulations on the book tour, how cool is that!! What a great way to start out with that exceptional soup! Not only is it beautiful but I know it had to be soooo delicious, now add in one of those wonderful breads you bake and I would be in heaven.
This is the other recipe that I wanted to make from her book! Yumm-o!
Congrats on the book tour! This soup sounds absolutely fantastic!
Roxana, your photos are stunning! I like the white bright of the first photo and the others are gorgeous as well. Congrats on being a top mom blogger. Fun book tour
I'm living in the South and still not a huge fan of black eye peas but this soup does look fantastic I think I may have to try it with my fav. beans. Are you counting down the days until your trip?
Hi Roxana, I love your photos! Congrats on the top mom blogger
I didn't realize you were a vegetarian, makes senses now. I eat meat but try to have many meatless meals in the week. Vegan cuisine is one I love and as you said when spiced well you don't miss out on anything.
Lovely book review.
This soup looks so beautiful and colorful, though I must admit I have never tried black eyed peas! Congrats!!!
That is one hearty n tasty bowl of soup ~ I love black eyed peas very much n will definitely try the recipe
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The vegan lifestyle seems to have unleashed a creative force within you. Congrats on the book tour and your new look here! Being from the South, I'm a fan of black-eyed peas and I love this soup. Looking forward to many more flavorful vegan recipes from you Roxana
Bravo to you! I think it's awesome that you're going on tour. I'm not big on cooked peppers, but with them being so healthy, we do go ahead and eat them. This gives one more way of making them that the family will enjoy.
I love a great soup and where I am not sure I could ever be vegetarian – I love it when I can have something healthy and satisfying that doesn't leave me craving meat. A soup with lots of beans is always a great way for me to sneak something much healthier into our meal plan and I love them. This one sounds delicious and looks beautiful.
Hai Dear
This looks yummy….you have a lovely blog… You have so many wonderful recipes..I have bookmarked you blog and some recipe from that to try..Please check out my blog.I am having a Giveaway in my blog..Please check it out and partcipate in that..
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Aarthi