Black-Eyed Pea Salsa

By Tommy C. Simmons, an enthusiastic cook
Photograph by Tommy C. Simmons

We usually cook a pot of black-eyed peas and greens for New Year's but this year we decided to make black-eyed pea salsa instead. I had a bag of lady peas in the freezer and figured those would be perfect to use in a salsa. We enjoyed it so much that it took me less than a month to make it again. 

I cooked the peas as I usually do with onions, carrots, a spoonful of brown sugar, black and red pepper and salt in a pot of boiling water until peas are soft. When slightly cooled, I removed 2 cups of the cooked peas from the pot, drained off the pot liquor and mixed with other salsa ingredients.

Black-Eyed Pea Dip can also be made using lady peas or other varieties of peas you have in the freezer from last summer's harvest.

Home kitchen-tested recipe

Black-Eyed Pea Salsa

Makes 2 ½ cups. Original recipe is from Judy Jumonville.

1 (16-oz.) can black-eyed peas, drained
2 to 3 tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 to 2 tbls. chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbl. chopped pickled jalapeno peppers
1 tbl. olive oil
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. salt
Dash of chili powder (optional)
Dash of Tabasco Chipotle hot sauce
Dash of black pepper
½ cup finely grated Mexican cheese blend

1.    Mix everything together. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours.
2.    Serve with crackers, tortilla chips and gluten-free rice crackers.

Testing note: I made the recipe using cooked lady peas. This is a good dip to serve with gluten-free crackers.

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