"I'm not normally a Paula Deen recipe fan, because her dishes don't normally fit into the diet I'm usually on, but like Jaydensmomma also said, I had a 1 lb. bag of black-eyed pies that had been taking up pantry space because I haven't cared for the black-eyed peas I've had before. This recipe is delicious & far better than restaurant black-eyed peas. Adding the diced tomatoes & chiles is key. Because we like our food on the spicy side & because we only had a 10 oz. can of tomatoes/chiles available instead of her recipe's 12 oz. can, we also added a minced Serrano pepper, with excellent results. One thing - for some reason a number of the reviewers pre-soaked their peas for long periods of time. However, the recipe doesn't call for that for good reason - peas (split green, black-eyed, etc.) & lentils don't need pre-soaking, unlike most beans, or they'll be overcooked."

"I'm not normally a Paula Deen recipe fan, because her dishes don't normally fit into the diet I'm usually on, but like Jaydensmomma also said, I had a 1 lb. bag of black-eyed pies that had been taking up pantry space because I haven't cared for the black-eyed peas I've had before. This recipe is delicious & far better than restaurant black-eyed peas. Adding the diced tomatoes & chiles is key. Because we like our food on the spicy side & because we only had a 10 oz. can of tomatoes/chiles available instead of her recipe's 12 oz. can, we also added a minced Serrano pepper, with excellent results. One thing - for some reason a number of the reviewers pre-soaked their peas for long periods of time. However, the recipe doesn't call for that for good reason - peas (split green, black-eyed, etc.) & lentils don't need pre-soaking, unlike most beans, or they'll be overcooked."

"I'm not normally a Paula Deen recipe fan, because her dishes don't normally fit into the diet I'm usually on, but like Jaydensmomma also said, I had a 1 lb. bag of black-eyed pies that had been taking up pantry space because I haven't cared for the black-eyed peas I've had before. This recipe is delicious & far better than restaurant black-eyed peas. Adding the diced tomatoes & chiles is key. Because we like our food on the spicy side & because we only had a 10 oz. can of tomatoes/chiles available instead of her recipe's 12 oz. can, we also added a minced Serrano pepper, with excellent results. One thing - for some reason a number of the reviewers pre-soaked their peas for long periods of time. However, the recipe doesn't call for that for good reason - peas (split green, black-eyed, etc. & lentils don't need pre-soaking, unlike most beans, or they'll be overcooked."

"I'm not normally a Paula Deen recipe fan, because her dishes don't normally fit into the diet I'm usually on, but like Jaydensmomma also said, I had a 1 lb. bag of black-eyed pies that had been taking up pantry space because I haven't cared for the black-eyed peas I've had before. This recipe is delicious & far better than restaurant black-eyed peas. Adding the diced tomatoes & chiles is key. Because we like our food on the spicy side & because we only had a 10 oz. can of tomatoes/chiles available instead of her recipe's 12 oz. can, we also added a minced Serrano pepper, with excellent results. One thing - for some reason a number of the reviewers pre-soaked their peas for long periods of time. However, the recipe doesn't call for that for good reason - peas (split green, black-eyed, etc.) & lentils don't need pre-soaking, unlike most beans. "