Black Eyed Pea Salad

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: African American, Soul Food, Southern

Keyword: black eyed peas, collard greens, salad, vegan, vegetarian

Prep Time: 25

Cook Time: 55

inactive prep (soaking the peas): 3

Total Time: 4 20

Servings:

Calories: 274kcal

Author: Marta Rivera

This Black Eyed Pea Salad with Collard Greens is a vibrant, protein-packed dish featuring tender black-eyed peas, finely shredded collards, crisp vegetables, and a bold garlic-ginger vinaigrette that combines to make a dish that's hearty, zesty, and full of texture.

Prep time includes soaking and simmering the dried black-eyed peas until tender. If you are pressed for time, canned peas are a suitable substitute and reduce prep time to just 25 minutes.

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US Customary - Metric

Equipment

immersion blender or blender
dutch oven
large mixing bowl

Ingredients

1 pound dried black eyed peas sorted (or 3 15–15.5 oz cans of black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed)

For the Garlic-Ginger Vinaigrette

1/2 cup olive oil
4 large lemons juiced (about 1/2 cup or 155ml)
1 small shallot rough chopped (about 20 grams)
3 large cloves garlic rough chopped
2 inch piece ginger peeled and chopped (about 15 grams)
1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup or agave syrup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
3/4 teaspoon harissa spice blend
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

For the Salad

1 bunch collard greens destemmed and sliced into ribbons (about 3 1/2 cups or 125 grams)
2 medium carrots peeled and minced (about 1 cup or 110 grams)
2 small Roma tomatoes seeded and diced (1 cup or 110 grams)
1/2 English cucumber seeded and diced (1 cup or 110 grams)
1 small jalapeño seeded and minced (20 grams)
1/4 bunch cilantro trimmed and chopped (30 grams)
1 stem mint destemmed and chopped (1 tablespoon or 15 grams)

Instructions

Soften the Black Eyed Peas

Add the black-eyed peas to a large Dutch oven and cover them with at least 4 inches of cold water.
Soak the black-eyed peas for 3 hours. You can also cover the pot and put it in the fridge to let the black-eyed peas soak overnight. *The longer you soak the peas, the less time they'll cook*
Drain the water and rinse the peas to remove any residual field or factory dirt.
Return the peas to the dutch oven and cover them with 4 inches of water.
Bring this water up to a boil over medium-high heat.
Reduce the heat to medium-low once the water comes to a boil.
Cover the pot and simmer the peas for 45 minutes or until al dente.
Carefully pour the black-eyed peas into a colander to drain the water.
Rinse the peas under cold water and allow them to drain while you prepare the garlic-ginger vinaigrette.

Make the Garlic-Ginger Vinaigrette

Add the oil, lemon juice, shallot, garlic, ginger, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, kosher salt, harissa spice blend, ground cumin, and black pepper to a quart-sized mason jar or blender.
Use an immersion blender to blend the vinaigrette until it emulsifies or becomes thick and cohesive.
*If you're making the garlic-ginger vinaigrette in a blender, blend the ingredients together at low speed. Add a small amount of cold water to the blender if things aren't moving around enough.*
Once the vinaigrette forms an emulsion, it's ready to use.

Assemble the Black Eyed Pea Salad

Add the drained black-eyed peas to a large mixing bowl with the red onion while the peas are still warm or at least room temperature.
Add the collard greens, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, jalapeño, cilantro, and mint to the bowl of peas.
Pour the garlic-ginger vinaigrette into the bowl, then use salad spoons to toss the ingredients until combined.
Once you toss everything together, the black-eyed pea salad is ready to serve
Black-eyed pea salad is a great side dish to serve with grilled meat, chicken wings, or seafood dishes. Serve it with grilled tofu or on its own for a delicious vegan meal.

Notes

Swaps and Substitutions:

You can replace the dry black-eyed peas with canned. Drain and rinse the can of peas in a colander to remove the canning liquid.
Swap the dried black-eyed peas for frozen and thawed peas. Thaw the black-eyed peas in the refrigerator and strain off any liquid.
You can swap the lemon juice for fresh lime juice in this recipe.
Replace the shallot with the same amount of yellow onion if you don't have one.
Mexican spice blend or Middle Eastern Spice Blend can replace the harissa spice blend in this recipe.
You can replace the collard greens in this recipe with kale, Swiss chard, or spinach.
The jalapeño pepper is optional in this salad. Replace it with a red bell pepper for a milder pepper flavor and more color.
Swap out the Roma tomatoes with a similar large tomato– heirlooms look beautiful in this salad!
You can also replace the cilantro with fresh flat-leaf parsley, basil, or dill.
For less onion flavor, replace the red onion with sliced green onions.
And to bulk up the fiber, add drained canned or fresh corn.

Tips and Techniques:

Black-eyed peas don't require soaking as other dried beans, as some legumes do, though soaking does help to soften them and slightly reduces the cooking time required to make them tender.
Increase the cooking time to 1 hour and 30 minutes if you didn't soak the peas beforehand.
You can prepare the garlic-ginger vinaigrette 7 to 10 days ahead and store it in a covered container in the refrigerator.
Blend any dressing that's sat for more than 1 hour for 30 seconds to emulsify it again.
Dressing the black-eyed peas while they are still warm allows them to absorb more of the dressing.
You can put the bowl of peas in the refrigerator uncovered and start prepping the rest of the salad ingredients while you wait for them to cool down.
You can prepare black-eyed pea salad a day before serving it and store it in a covered container in the refrigerator.
Making the salad a day ahead gives the peas enough time to absorb the dressing and meld with the rest of the ingredients' flavors.
You can soak the collard greens in a bowlful of cold water and let the grit settle to the bottom of the bowl on its own, or agitate the leaves to encourage the dirt to come off them.

Storage Instructions:

Transfer leftover black-eyed pea salad to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
I don't recommend freezing black-eyed pea salad after assembling it because the vegetables and herbs wilt upon thawing, and the herbs turn black.
Instead, freeze cooked, cooled peas by themselves up to 3 months. Thaw and combine with fresh greens and dressing when ready.

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