black-eyed peas

Cowboy Caviar

INGREDIENTS

15 oz can black beans
15 oz can black eyed peas
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
2 Roma tomatoes
1/4 red onion
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro

Dressing
4 Tbsp Persian Lime olive oil
1/2 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Merquén Crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp sugar

STEPS

Rinse and drain the two types of beans in a colander. Allow the excess water to drain completely while you prepare the vegetables.

Finely dice the red and green bell pepper, tomatoes, and red onion. Try to dice the vegetables into small pieces that are roughly the same size as the beans. Coarsely chop the cilantro. Combine the drained beans, chopped bell pepper, tomato, onion, and cilantro in a large bowl.

Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Merquén Crushed, cumin, salt, and sugar until ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Pour the dressing over the salad, then toss to make certain everything is well coated.

Serve immediately, or refrigerate, covered, until ready to eat. Serve with corn chips.

Recipe 0 Comments , , ,

Black Eyed Pea Dip

INGREDIENTS
(1) 15 oz can black-eyed peas, drained
4 slices smoked bacon
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp Chile-Lime Blend
1/2 tsp Ancho Chile Powder
Juice from 1/2 lime
1/2 tsp Diced Jalapeño Chile
1/4 Cup Chopped Cilantro (optional)
1/4 Cup Queso Fresco, crumbled

STEPS

Put smoked bacon slices in a cold skillet, and begin to cook over medium-low heat. Continue to cook bacon, turning occasionally, until slices are cooked and crisp. Use tongs to remove cooked bacon from skillet, and allow to cool and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

Add the chopped garlic to the drippings in the skillet and cook over low heat until it becomes fragrant and begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to deglaze the bacon fat and garlic from the skillet, transferring to the bowl of a food processor. Add all the remaining ingredients – except Queso Fresco and cooked bacon – to the food processor.

Pulse the ingredients in the food processor until well the mixture is well-combined, nearly smooth but still with a few lumps. Crumble the cooled, cooked bacon. Return the dip to the warm skillet, adding half of the Queso Fresco and half of the crumbled bacon. Stir to combine and allow dip to warm from the skillet.

Transfer warmed dip to serving bowl and garnish with remaining Queso Fresco and bacon crumbles. Serve with tortilla chips on the side.

Recipe 0 Comments , , , ,

Holla For Challah! Food and Traditions for Rosh Hashanah

This week coincidentally marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year celebration of Rosh Hashanah [literally “Head of the Year”]. Rosh Hashanah commemorates the birth of the world and of humankind, and the beginning of a new year on the Jewish calendar. [This year is 5773, for those keeping score at home.] Why should you care? Because it’s an ancient tradition, and besides sounding the cool shofar ram’s horn, it’s a holiday — and there is fine feasting to be had.

Challah, and Apples, and Beets, Oh My!

Rosh Hashanah meals include foods with symbolic meanings. Round foods symbolize the circle of the year, and sweet foods embody the wish for a happy “sweet” new year.  For example, the braided Challah bread present at every Shabbos dinner is specially braided into a round loaf at Rosh Hashanah, and passed around the dinner table with new honey for dipping, round and sweet.

Each of the special prayers offered during the Rosh Hashanah meal are prefaced with “Yehi Ratzon” — “May it be Your will”, and the foods eaten at this time have also become known as “yehi ratzones”. Typical Yehi Ratzon foods include:

  • apples dipped in honey. Sometimes apples are baked in an apple-honey cake or are served in the form of a compote called mansanada;
  • pomegranates [round *and* sweet], which are filled with luscious little seeds that representing your many good mitzvahs or deeds;
  • black eyed peas [searching my brain for a Fergie or will.i.am joke, but I got nothin’], or Lubia, a Syrian symbol of prosperity and good luck;
  • fenugreek or, rubia, which not coincidentally is the Hebrew word for increase;
  • beets, a pun on the Hebrew word for remove, eaten as a wish to remove obstacles and hindrances to your success.

It is also common to symbolize a year “stuffed” with blessings on Rosh Hashanah by eating foods with stuffing, like poultry or vegetables. The feast may also feature meat from the head of an animal or fish [to symbolize the “head” of the year, or served with a prayer for guidance that their actions in the New Year be guided as those of “a head, and not a tail.”]

Rosh Hashanah is the kickoff to the ten High Holy Days, a time of introspection and repentance, during which [in between delicious meals] people should meditate on the year gone by, and the year to come, asking for forgiveness from anyone they have wronged. At the end of the ten “days of awe,” comes Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

You can find recipes for Rosh Hashanah and other Jewish holidays at this link.

Blog 2 Comments , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hoppin’ John [Black-Eyed Peas and Ham]

The southern American tradition of eating Hoppin’ John on New Year’s Day is thought to bring a prosperous year filled with luck. The round black-eyed peas are symbolic of pennies or coins. Sometimes a coin is even added to the pot, or individual coins are left under the dinner bowls.

Cooked collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, chard, kale, or cabbage are often served along with this dish, to add to the “wealth” since the greens are the color of money.

Another traditional food, cornbread, can also be served to represent wealth — being the color of gold. [And because beans and cornbread get along so well together]. YUM.

INGREDIENTS

1½ Cup dried black-eyed peas
1 small ham hock, or leftover Christmas ham
5 slices thick-cut bacon
2 cups long-grain white rice, uncooked
1 large onion, chopped
3 tsp salt
1 tsp red pepper pizza flakes
8 Cups water

STEPS

Soak the beans overnight. If you’re making this as a New Year’s Day dish, just set the beans to soaking before you head out for the evening.

In the morning, or after at least 6-8 hours’ soaking, drain the black-eyed peas and discard the soaking water.

In a large pot, add the soaked black-eyed peas, ham hock [or some diced up leftover Christmas ham], 6 cups of water, and salt.

Bring the beans to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until the black-eyed peas are tender, about 1 – 1½ hours.

Meanwhile, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon, drain fat and set aside. Reserve the bacon grease. Crumble the bacon. Try not to eat the tasty bacon bits while the black eyed peas cook. Perhaps cook some extra bacon for this purpose.

Sauté the chopped onion in the reserved bacon grease over medium heat until soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes.

When the black-eyed peas have finished cooking, remove from heat. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid.

In a large pot, add the rice, 2 cups of the cooked black-eyed peas, sautéed onions, crumbled bacon, red pepper pizza flakes, 2 cups reserved cooking liquid, and 2 cups water. Bring to a simmer and cover the pot, over medium-low heat until the rice is done, about 15-20 minutes.

Serve with cooked greens and/or cornbread. Makes 4-6 servings.

Recipe 1 Comment , , , ,

Black-Eyed Peas With Cilantro [Lubia]

For Middle-Eastern Jews, eating black-eyed peas, or Lubia, at Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, embodies wishes for prosperity and good fortune in the coming year.

INGREDIENTS

2 large cloves garlic, chopped
3 Tbs olive oil
4 Cups [2 pkgs] frozen black-eyed peas
1 – 8-ounce can tomato sauce
2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro stems
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Freshly cooked long-grain white rice

STEPS

In a large saucepan, cook the garlic in the olive oil on the stove over medium heat, until it is softened and just tinged with gold, about 2 – 3 minutes. Add the black eyed peas, tomato sauce, cilantro root (or stems), and enough fresh cold water to cover the peas by about 1 inch.

Bring the mixture to a boil, and simmer it, covered, over low heat. Add coriander, salt and pepper to taste after cooking for 10 minutes. Add more water if necessary to keep the peas quite soupy; there should be enough water to form some sauce. Cook frozen peas for a total of 20-30 minutes, or until the peas are tender.

Stir in the chopped cilantro and serve the lubia over the rice, garnished with additional cilantro leaves.

Recipe 0 Comments , , , , , , ,

We Gladly Accept

Subscribe to our newsletter

Follow Us for Recipes & More

© 2018 Allspice Culinarium