Saturday, August 4, 2007

Fresh black eyed peas

I saw these pods of fresh black eyed peas at Berkeley Bowl yesterday, and I couldn't resist buying them:

I shucked them while watching Sex and the City; a half pound yielded a little over a cup of peas:

As you can see, they came out of the pods green. I tried one raw to see what it was like - it was tender with a grassy flavor.

To serve them, I decided to blanch them in salted water for about 90 seconds. Next, I sauteed one finely minced shallot in a little bit of olive oil. I added a handful of frozen white corn kernels to the pan and sauteed them until they were thawed. I added the cooked peas back to the pan and finished the dish with salt and pepper, quartered cherry tomatoes, chives and a squeeze of lime juice.

This was really delicious, the flavors worked well together. The lime juice gave it a bit of a kick. I prefer these fresh black eyed peas to the frozen ones that I normally buy.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sara,
Looks delicious! Do you know that black eyed peas are a New Years Day tradition in the south, where my Mom comes from? The added touches you used make them look mouth watering.
Margaret