Not So Lucky Black Eyed Pea Casserole

I had a boatload of cooked black eyed peas in the refrigerator and since I am trying to get rid of all leftovers, I decided to make a little casserole using some of the remaining peas.  I am freezing another bag of them for much later. As I said in a previous blog, when I am trying to make do with what I have I tend to think out of the box.  Some meals like the pizza lasagne are a huge success.
Others like tonights meal are just so-so. Others like my infamous honey coffee glazed meatballs are just completely inedible.  Even with the failures I have never let it keep me from trying what my dad called my "germ of an idea".

So let's just go ahead and dive into this dish, which could have been really good if I had done it differently.  I will share with you what should have been vs. what was.

What was:
2 cups cooked black eyed peas
1 cup cooked collard greens
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 small onion chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded, veined and chopped
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup
4 ounces (about) shredded cheddar cheese
8 slices bacon, cooked crisp and broken into pieces (3 slices real bacon, 5 slices turkey bacon,yuck)

I poured everything but the bacon in a baking dish, stirred it to mix it well, then baked it for 40 minutes at 350. I took it out of the oven and broke the bacon pieces over the top of it. We ate it as the main dish and had a side salad.  Hmmmmm!  It was neither good nor bad. The taste was ok but the texture was way too mushy.  It was a boring meal and is not tasty enough to save the leftovers, so I am going to toss out about 2 cups of food, because we will never eat it.

What do I think would make it tasty?:
1 onion chopped
2-3 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup cooked collard greens, chopped well
1 jalapeno chopped and seeded
1 can Rotel (Choose your preferred heat) drained
8 ounces grated cheddar divided in half
1/2 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups cooked black eyed peas, well drained
1 can niblet corn, well drained
8 slices crispy bacon chopped (for all that is holy use real bacon)
dollop of sour cream
chopped cilantro

Saute the onions in the olive oil until it is wilted but not brown,  Add the garlic and stir a few seconds until it is soft, then dump in the collard greens and diced jalapeno.  Warm them well and let the jalapeno soften a bit before transferring it to a mixing bowl.  Stir in the drained Rotel tomatoes, soup and 4 ounces of the cheddar cheese.  Add the black eyed peas and the niblet corn (the corn will provide some extra and much needed texture as well as some flavor) Be sure to blend this together very well.  Pour into a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.  Top with the remaining grated cheese and chopped bacon.  Return to the over until the cheese is melted.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro.  This SHOULD make it tasty, but until I try it (sometime in a far, far, distant time) there are no guarantees.

A little Black Eyed Pea Music?