Black-Eyed Peas
29 recipes found

Black-Eyed Peas With Collard Greens
Black-eyed peas with collard greens sounds like a Southern dish, and indeed it would be if you threw in a ham hock and took away the dill. But this recipe actually is inspired by a Greek dish that combines black-eyed peas with wild greens.

Cowboy Caviar
Depending on where you’re from, this simple dip is known as cowboy caviar or Texas caviar, and it’s a favorite at tailgates and potlucks all over the South. Its creator, Helen Corbitt, a dietitian from New York, had never heard of black-eyed peas when she moved to Texas in 1931. The exact details are fuzzy, but at some point in her 40 years working in restaurants there, she combined black-eyed peas with a simple vinaigrette, and it was a big hit. The recipe has evolved over the years, and you can find a number of variations online. Some contain corn and black beans (as this one does), and others avocado. Some call for bottled Italian salad dressing, others homemade. No matter how you tweak it, it’s always good with a pile of tortilla chips.

Hoppin' John
In her cookbook, “Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking,” Toni Tipton-Martin writes about the Carolina lowcountry tradition of the dish Hoppin’ John, as recorded in the “Penn School & Sea Islands Heritage Cookbook.” The dish was described as brown field peas cooked with rice to be eaten for good luck throughout the year. In African American communities, the tradition of eating rice and cowpeas dates to a celebration on Dec. 31, 1862, Freedom’s Eve. On that day, enslaved Africans congregated in churches in the south, eager to hear the news that the Emancipation Proclamation had set them free. The tradition of eating peas and rice for the new year is now deeply held across cultures throughout the United States and ties to centuries-old folklore that might just lead to better health, prosperity and maybe, just maybe, a bit more luck.

Black-Eyed Peas With Ham Hock and Collards
For the New Year’s good fortune, a plate of black-eyed peas or other beans is considered auspicious, auguring wealth and prosperity. In the American South, they are traditionally eaten on the first day of the year. Adding cooked greens (the color of money) is said to make them even luckier. Simmered with onion and a meaty ham bone (other options are salt pork, bacon, pig’s feet, hog jowl and ham hock), black-eyed peas are often seasoned quite simply, with just salt and pepper. They may also be made highly seasoned with hot pepper and spices. Freshly baked cornbread is the perfect accompaniment.

Black-Eyed Peas
Black-eyed peas are a Southern good-luck tradition for New Year’s Day, one with deep roots in African-American culture. Simmer the peas with charred onion, chile de árbol and cloves, and they’ll soak up deep flavor. This recipe comes from the chef Mashama Bailey, of the restaurant Grey in Savannah, Ga., who makes it for her New Year's feast. Her family always cooked the beans with ham hocks, but Ms. Bailey prefers to make hers vegan, so all can enjoy it. These peas are also fairly customizable: Purée a portion of the mixture for a thicker sauce, doctor with your favorite hot sauce or dollop with sour cream to add richness.

Saigon Hoppin' John

Black-Eyed Pea and Pork Gumbo
The chefs Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski serve this gumbo regularly at Cochon, their Cajun-Southern restaurant in New Orleans. Its ingredients depart significantly from traditional New Orleans restaurant gumbos, which almost never feature pork, legumes or greens, although those norms have changed in recent years, in part due to Cochon’s influence. As a rule, when seasoning gumbo, Mr. Link uses just 75 percent of the suggested spice portions at first, then adds the rest as desired according to taste. Since this recipe can produce varying results, depending on whether you’re using smoked pork butt from a local barbecue joint or a store-bought variety, home-cooked black-eyed peas or canned, braised collards or mustard greens, Mr. Link’s seasoning approach is particularly useful.

Black-Eyed Pea Soup or Stew With Pomegranate and Chard
This is another dish inspired by a recipe in Louisa Shafia’s book “The New Persian Kitchen.” You can use more or less water, depending on whether you want the dish to have the consistency of a soup or a thick stew. It’s hearty, and the most beautiful pink hue.

Black-Eyed Pea Fritters
The chef Pierre Thiam puts a twist on these traditional Senegalese accara, or black-eyed pea fritters. They are sold on street corners throughout West Africa, usually on fresh baguettes as a sandwich. But Mr. Thiam treats them a bit like falafel and stuffs them into fresh pita bread instead. The spicy pickled carrots he uses as a condiment are based on a recipe from his Vietnamese godfather. Accara are deliciously light and fairly addictive, and they make a great snack with drinks.

Brooklyn-Style Hoppin’ John
Hoppin’ John and greens are two simple dishes that are required eating each New Year’s Day for Southerners (or anyone else, one imagines) who want to bring luck and prosperity.

Black-Eyed Pea Salad
This salad is inspired by a Greek recipe that calls for lots of herb fennel. I couldn’t find herb fennel, so I added a thinly sliced fennel bulb to the mix. Along with its refreshing flavor, the fennel bulb contributes a delightful contrasting crunchy texture. It’s a great salad with or without the tomatoes.

Crook’s Corner Hoppin’ John
“Everything I do is as authentic as possible, but with my own refinements,” the chef Bill Neal of Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, N.C., told Craig Claiborne in 1985. “I try to make a personal statement.” An example was his hoppin’ John. A typical version of the time consisted basically of cooked peas — black-eyed or crowder — served on a bed of rice; the usual seasonings were only salt, pepper and perhaps a little salt pork. Mr. Neal seasoned his peas with garlic, thyme and bay leaf, and added a garnish of cubed tomatoes, chopped scallions and grated cheese.

Black-Eyed-Pea Salad With Herbs, Walnuts And Pomegranates

Southern Black-Eyed Peas and Cauliflower
This sweet and savory black-eyed pea dish, from vegan cookbook author Chloe Coscarelli, calls for canned beans so it comes together in about a half hour. Serve with Ms. Coscarelli's super-easy biscuits. Leftovers, if you have any, can be eaten in a bun, sloppy-Joe style.

Braised Fresh Black-Eyed Peas With Baby Turnips
Fresh black-eyed peas, still in their pods, are a pretty pale green, with a gorgeous purple-black O-ring on each tiny pea. They’re tender and creamy and snappy — with an earthy flavor that goes well with the mint, pepper and turnips in this shallow braise — and they cook in just minutes unlike their wintered-over chalky, drab dried counterparts. I love them when they come in fresh at the market, and also love the so-called chore of shucking them. The chance to sit for a minute and watch the world go by while shelling a big pile of fresh peas will always leave you feeling glad you did.

Soba With Black-Eyed Peas and Spinach
I’m bringing together good luck charms from all over the globe in this comforting dish. Soba (buckwheat noodles) is traditional in Japan, black-eyed peas in the American South, and spinach or other greens pretty much everywhere. Buckwheat pasta does exist in Northern Italy; it's called pizzoccheri, and it’s traditionally tossed with a rich cabbage and cheese topping.

Greek Black-Eyed Peas Salad
Black-eyed peas may not be part of the Greek New Year’s tradition, as they are in the American South, but this recipe still makes a great, light dish.

Black-Eyed Peas And Arugula Salad

Black-Eyed Peas With Spinach

Pompano With Black-Eyed Peas and Citrus Salsa

Tuna With Black-Eyed Pea and Artichoke Salad

Black-Eyed Peas And Kale Ragout

Granny Dameron's New Year's Day Black-Eyed Peas
