Ok, so this is kind of cheating.  :)  This meal is 1/2 made in the crockpot, and 1/2 cooked in the oven.

I was not the biggest black eyed peas fan until I ate this casserole! This totally converted me.  You know what they say … it isn't the food itself, but how it is prepared?  Total true!

I was inspired by this post by Diabetic Foodie.  It started me thinking about how I could adapt this recipe to be grain free, as I am still trying to not eat grains.  It turned out so good!

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Black Eyed Peas Casserole

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Black Eyed Peas:

1 cup dry black eyed peas

2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

1 tbsp salt

28 oz can crushed tomatoes + 1 cup water

12 oz sausage

Cornbread topping:

1 cup garbanzo bean flour

1/4 cup amaranth seeds

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

In a 4 quart crock pot, combine the black eyed peas and smashed garlic cloves, and cover with water.  Cook on low for 12 hours, or high for 6-8 hours – depending on your crock pot.

Drain, and put the black eyed peas back in the crock pot.  Add the salt and the tomatoes – including the juice from the can of tomatoes, plus 1 cup of water.

In a medium skillet over medium high heat, cook the sausage.  I used 3 links of lean sweet Italian turkey sausage, but you can use whatever your favorite type of sausage is.  When cooked, add the sausage to the crock pot.  You can leave this cooking until you are ready to finish the casserole in the oven, or at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare the topping:  In a medium bowl combine the dry ingredients (garbanzo bean flour, amaranth seeds, baking powder and salt.  Add the eggs, milk and parmesan cheese and mix well.

Prepare an 8x8 baking pan with nonstick spray.  Spoon in the black eyed peas mixture,

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...and the topping on top of the black eyed peas mixture.

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Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, or until slightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean.

Serve!

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Even though I call this a "cornbread" topping, as you can see, there is no cornmeal in it!  I like adding the amaranth seeds, to give it a little "crunch", so it tastes very cornbread-like!

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This was so good, and definitely changed my mind about black-eyed peas!