Black-Eyed Peas with Chard, Corn and Onions

Fresh Black Eyed Peas

I am now in love with black-eyed peas and I am not referring to the wildly popular music group, but the delicious legumes that I hope I can convince Madison to grow this summer in Connecticut.  My local farm in Boynton Beach, FL provided me with a bag of mature black-eyed pea pods that were dry and ready to be shucked or shelled.  It was kind of a fun project for my daughter.  She took the pods and spread them out in a rimmed cookie sheet and went to work getting the peas out of the pod.  Because the pod is dry, the peas mostly just pop right out.  I don’t know how long they will store this way.  I would recommend cooking them right away and freezing them, or freeze them just after they have been shucked.

When referring to recipes that ask for black-eyed peas (or cowpeas – I am not making this up), you don’t have to cook freshly shelled peas as long, so check on the progress as you cook them.  In my recipe, my peas were done in about 20 minutes.

I also discovered that black-eyed peas sprout beautifully.  (This has nothing to do with this recipe, but everything to do with different ways to enjoy black-eyed peas!)  They make an incredibly healthy and delicious snack as well as a crunchy addition to a salad.   See my previous post about sprouting mung beans.  (Black-eyed peas are related to mung beans too. Maybe that is why they both are easy to sprout.)

Ingredients:

1 cup freshly shelled black-eyed peas

4 cups fresh chard, stems removed and roughly chopped

(spinach or arugula could be substituted for chard, just add at the last minute and wilt them rather than cook them)

2 medium to sweet onions
3 ears fresh corn, cut off the cobb

1 Tablespoon freshly toasted and ground cumin (see previous post)

1 teaspoon dried chipotle pepper (optional)

¼ cup water to steam the chard

Start the black-eyed peas and three cups water in a saucepan and cover.  Simmer.  Check after 20 minutes.  Depending on how dry the beans are, they may need to simmer longer before they are ready.

Meanwhile peel the onions and cut in half.  Slice in ¼ inch slivers.  Sauté the onions in a medium sized sauté pan until they are golden.  About 5 minutes.  Add the spices and the chard.  While cooking the chard, add water to steam it.  The chard should be cooked through in 10-15 minutes.   I had older, more mature chard that took at least 15 minutes.  Most of the chard found in the grocery store will probably be done quicker.  Add the cooked peas and the fresh corn to the vegetables and heat through.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Black eyed-peas with collards are considered a good luck New Year’s dish too.  I will have to do some more research to find out why.  Happy healthy eating.