many days i challenge myself to make a meal entirely from what i have in our kitchen. this was one of those meals and i will surely make it again. i think i have made variations of this soup many of times, it's not all that inventive. i do think what made it so wonderful this time was the homemade vegetable stock. the flavors were so much warmer! started this soup in the morning before work and let it cook in the crock pot all day long. we enjoyed this with some buttered bread from a local bakery....it was a perfect fall night supper. rustic black eyed pea soup -saute 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 diced yellow onion, and 2 sweet peppers from the garden until tender -in the crock pot add 1 cup of dried black eyed peas, rinsed , 4 cups stock, and 2-3 cups water (add more as needed) add the sauted vegetables to the crock pot -add 2 handfuls of finely chopped kale or other greens to the soup photo and recipe by kristen bach