Black-Eyed Pea

I like to serve this salad with vinaigrette, as here, or lightly moistened with a dollop of homemade mayonnaise (page 282). (I seem to have some sort of primal need to combine tomatoes with mayonnaise.) The truth is, this salad really reminds me of how a plate of food looks toward the end of a summer meal when all the vegetables and flavors swim and mingle together. This salad can be served as is, in lettuce cups, or as a side dish for grilled or fried chicken. Regardless of how you serve it, all of the vegetables should be chopped approximately the same size so each bite is evenly mixed.

One of our favorite things about pasta is that you can get creative with your sauce. Bell peppers, black-eyed peas, and Tabasco give this baked pasta a racy Southern taste. Jamie and his family eat so much pasta at their house that we like to joke that if they weren’t from the South, they’d be from southern Italy.

Superstition across the southeastern United States holds that eating hog jowls, collard greens, and black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day will make a person healthy, wealthy, and wise. Hog jowl, which is the cheek of a pig, is a flavorful and fatty meat that is usually cured or smoked. Hard to believe a food as rich and fat-laden as hog jowl is linked to health and prosperity. These meager foods have always been a symbol of plenty for people who are often very poor. The “good-luck” traditions of black-eyed peas in the Southern United States date back to the Civil War, when Union troops ravaged Southern lands, destroying crops and taking all livestock. All that was left were black-eyed peas, which were considered to be fodder for horses and other animals; as a result, many Southerners subsisted on this protein-rich and hearty legume.

If you’ve been on the lookout for new ways to use leftover ham, here’s a main dish to try. Pineapple slices are a great complement as a side dish or for dessert. Replace the spicy brown mustard with a flavored mustard, such as orange, horseradish, or honey, if you wish.

Pat: Black-eyed peas, simmered with fatty pork (such as ham hocks or bacon), have been a staple in the South for hundreds of years. Inexpensive, easy to grow, and easy to store, they provide protein and nourishment and, many believe, good fortune (which is why eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is a Southern tradition). Some even eat greens, meant to symbolize money, alongside of them. Don’t worry if at the end of the cooking process these beans seem a little watery. To cream them up, mash the beans against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon, or purée a cup of them in the blender and add them back in. These black-eyed peas are great poured over warm cornbread, and are a perfect side with grilled or fried pork chops.

A Persian dish.

A measure of the importance of soups (ash) in Iran is that a cook is called an ash-paz, which means “maker of soup.” This substantial soup with a great mix of beans makes a good winter meal. In Iran it is served with bread and bunches of fresh herbs such as cress, mint, cilantro, and also scallions, radishes, and pickles. It is the type of soup you will find in the bazaar at the earliest hours of the morning, dished out for breakfast from huge cauldrons in which a sheep’s head and feet have given their special richness, and where all the vegetables in season find their place.

Black-eyed peas and nourishing greens, two foods well-loved in Southern and “soul” cookery, have flavors that team companionably. Serve with baked sweet potatoes, fresh corn bread, and sliced tomatoes.

Black-eyed peas and bulgur create a pleasant synergy in this easy and hearty dish.

Here’s one of my favorites. Most any sort of bean takes well to embellishment with fresh herbs and a good vinaigrette. See the menu suggestion with Sweet Potato Soup (page 29).

In this dish a hunk of ham is left whole as it cooks with the peas. Not cutting it up is very country.

Are you flush with folate? Too-low levels are linked with osteoporosis, depression and more. Black-eyed peas are a top source of the vitamin.

Fresh, in-shell black-eyed peas have a nutty flavor and cook quickly. You'll find them at farmers' markets in late summer. You can also buy shelled ones in the produce section of many supermarkets and from melissas.com. Flat green beans known as Romano (or Roma) beans are also found at farmers' markets. If you can't get them, string beans are a fine substitute.

The term shell bean generally refers to any bean that has to be removed from the pod before eating.

Gina: This colorful salad is one of my go-to recipes when I need something to satisfy a crowd, whether at a church potluck supper or a backyard barbecue. The champagne vinaigrette gives the beans a fresh, zippy flavor. For the best results, add the fresh beans to the salad just before serving, so they do not discolor.

While bean fritters are thought to have their origin in Nigeria, one can find them throughout West Africa. Inspired by the Black-Eyed Pea Fritters served at the Gambian-Cameroonian restaurant Bennachin in New Orleans, I whipped up this dish.

Black-eyed peas can replace the chickpeas, if desired. For a lighter soup, the rice can be omitted.

This Lowcountry-style dinner—shrimp with saucy black-eyed peas and smoky bacon—is worthy of a glass of sweet tea.