Pink-eyed peas

No, this is not a post about an aging pop group’s Breast Cancer Month campaign.  (Thank gawd.)  It’s a post about an actual food.

But, let’s back up a sec.

I often have the TV on when I’m home alone.  I don’t really watch it, exactly, but I like the company.  The personalities on the Food Network, Travel Channel and HGTV are common sidekicks.

Tonight’s BBQ craving was thanks to Adam Richman and his exploits on Man Versus Food.  Damn you, Travel Channel.

Oh, how I wanted to just walk down to The Pit and get the real thing.  But there’s that issue of fuzzy math from the other day; I really am trying to avoid eating out.  And also…a rack of ribs may not be the best thing to eat with a big race around the corner.

But a semi-healthy version of BBQ, created at home?  Sure.

I pulled out a chicken breast and tossed it in a pot to poach.  Easy enough.  Then I tackled a little bag of oddities that had been living in my fridge since I picked them up at the farmers market last weekend:

Those would be the pink-eyed peas.  (I guess they’re slightly pink?  I wonder if there are other colorful variants on the black-eyed pea out there.)

I boiled them up and then added them to a pan with onion, garlic and tomato sauteed in butter and cajun seasoning.  The pan smelled delicious, but things weren’t hanging together quite like I wanted.  So I threw in about a half cup of shredded mozzarella.  Check it:

Admittedly, I’m not much of a bean or vegetable person but this was delicious.  The pink-eyed peas really soaked up the flavors of everything else in the pan and had a wonderful earthy texture.

There are so many new (to me) foods down there in the South.  I can’t wait to experiment some more!

Today’s EAT: Southern comfort, done very healthy.

Faux-pulled BBQ chicken.  Poach chicken breast, shred with fork, add BBQ sauce. Sure, it’s not quite as tender as the slow-cooked stuff, but it’ll do in a pinch!

People love to talk about BBQ sauce down here.  There’s quite a divide between those who prefer tomato-based sauce versus vinegar based.  I’m not sure which side I’m on, but I went with an authentic Eastern Carolina vinegar version tonight:

This is so different from what I’m used to, BBQ-sauce-wise, but it’s delicious!  Very tangy and spicy.  I actually think it would make an awesome salad dressing!

(And because this meal was sorely lacking in carbs, I topped it off with a bowl of ice cream.  Nom.)

Today’s DRINK: A beer for my BBQ:

Magic Hat #9 is an old standby.  I love trying new and exotic beers, but sometimes tried and true is nice too.

Today’s RUN: I went down to the treadmill today and ran for 20 minutes.  It felt criminally short.  Even for a treadmill run.

Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be on a flight to Chicago!  I only have about 67 things to do before then – like start packing – but I hope to get a post up about my race plan in the morning before I go!

Today’s QUESTION: What’s your BBQ sauce style – thick and hearty tomato base, or spicy and tangy vinegar base?