When I hear the word “salad” I automatically think of a big bowl of leafy greens, but this is not that kind of salad. This is inspired by the black eyed pea salad at Bantaba African Restaurant here in Seattle. This salad’s flavors are fresh and bright. It’s a perfect dish to bring along to your summer picnic.
Working with dried black eyed peas can be difficult. All the instructions I found online said that I needed to soak the beans overnight or cook them for hours. However, Chef K is a magician and let me in on his cooking trick…the InstantPot. The InstantPot can cook your black eye peas to just the right consistency in a fraction of the time that it would take on the stovetop!
The time consuming part of this recipe is going to be all the cutting. You want to make sure your cuts are uniform to avoid biting into a big chunk of red onion when enjoying the final product.
Once you finish cutting everything, it’s just a matter of mixing everything together and seasoning. Make sure to taste your salad before serving and add more lime juice, salt or pepper as needed.
Keep your black eyed peas in your salad, not the floor,
Your favorite alternative chefs, K & T
Black Eyed Pea Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried black eyed peas
- 6 cups water
- ½ cup lime juice
- 1 cup parsley chopped
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 red onion finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper finely chopped
- 1 cucumber finely chopped
- 1 pint grape tomatoes chopped
- 2 serrano peppers minced (remove stems and seeds)
- Kosher salt and black pepper
Instructions
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Rinse black eyed peas with water, then add them to InstantPot with 6 cups of water. Cook at high pressure for 18 minutes, then natural release for 15 minutes.
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In a large bowl, whisk together lime juice and parsley. Slowly add olive oil until a smooth sauce forms.
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Add the black eyed peas, onion, bell pepper, cucumber, tomato, and peppers to the dressing. Toss together until everything is well combined and season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Refrigerate for at least an hour to marinate (you can also refrigerate overnight). Serve cold or at room temperature.