bacon peas

how about a super quick and easy recipe that will have your family members arguing over the last scoop of veggies (the actually happened last week. it was me versus judah, and i won out when i played the "the baby needs them!" card.)

judah is who i tried this recipe for the first time. he is our fussy eater. layla is down to party with whatever weird thing crosses her plate, but i have seen judah gag himself to barfing over a single mac n' cheese elbow (what child is this?!?!).

so imagine my surprise when he fell HARD for an english pea dish. the first time i had made these was last summer, and for some reason i forgot their huge success and didnt really make them again. and then judah joined a little pee-wee soccer league this spring and on his first day of practice they went around and said their name and their favorite food. i was shocked and thrilled when judah chirped out "bacon peas!" i couldnt believe that he remembered them from that long ago OR that i hadnt made them a part of the regular rotation since then.

they are now back in play enough that i was able to take a few pics so that i could share the love in hopes of reaching other families with VAC (vegetable averse children) syndrome.

BACON PEAS:

INGREDIENTS  (can you guess?) 

-center cut bacon (4-6 slices, depending on how much you love it)
-a bag of frozen english peas (our family of 4 can take down a whole bag in one sitting, less aggessive folks may have leftovers)

DIRECTIONS:

1. cook the peas according to directions, set aside
2. start cooking your bacon in a skillet (not on a flat griddle)
3. when bacon is alllllllmost cooked crisp, pull it out and set aside to cool/drain on paper towels.
4. pour your cooked peas into the bacon pan (you should have a nice lil' puddle of bacon grease)
5. stir peas so that everyone gets a little greased up.
6. crumble your bacon strips into bits and toss in with the peas
7. stir a few times and then remove from heat, drain any extra grease, and serve. salt to taste.

am i a little embarrassed that my family would not eat green peas until i started cooking them in bacon fat? maybe. but mostly i'm just loving plowing through these myself. and when you think about it it's barely one slice of bacon (and, yes, its fat) per person. 

the bacon taste doesnt completely take over the peas; so it isnt like you're just eating hot, bacon-flavored dippin' dots. you still definitely taste the yummy green peas primarily, but they just seem so much more happy with their delicious, meaty partner in there with them giving them a charred, smoky taste rather than just the "boiled veggie" vibe they were giving off before.