Spicy Black Eyed Peas

I have never made black eyed peas before so when David requested them I was a little surprised. I learned today that in the south it is a tradition to have black eyed peas on New Years day, as it is supposed to bring you good luck in the next year. David found this recipe on the foodnetwork. I figured you couldn't go wrong with a Paula Dean recipe and she didn't let me down. They were amazing. If you want to read up some more about the tradition of black eyed peas take a read here.

Spicy Black Eyed Peas
Source: Paula Deans, Paula's Home Cooking, Foodnetwork
Servings: 8
Weight Watchers: 11 points per serving

4 slices of bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (16-ounce) package of dried black-eyed peas, washed
1 (12-ounce) can of diced tomatoes and green chiles
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of chili powder
1/2 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
3 cups of water

In a large saucepan, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon, crumble, and set aside to use as a topping after the peas have cooked. Cook the onion in the bacon drippings until tender. Add the peas, diced tomatoes and green chiles, salt, chili powder, pepper and water. Cover and cook over medium heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the peas are tender. Add additional water, if necessary. Serve garnished with crumbled bacon.

Changes that I made: I added a ham hock to the pot and left it in the entire length of time that it was cooking. Also, I found I had to cook the peas longer that stated in the recipe, probably for about an hour and 15 min. Also, I needed to add more water.

Served with freshly baked corn bread.