Black Eyed Pea Salad

I was thumbing through an Iraqi cookbook from my collection called "Delights from the Garden of Eden" and was inspired to make this salad after reading a description of A Medieval Appetizer of Black-Eyed Peas. It's simply black eyed peas tossed with onion, tomato, garlic, lemon juice and sumac juice. I made mine with onion, tomato, garlic, lemon juice, cilantro, dried dill, ground sumac and olive oil. Was delicious!

Sauteed Kale and Black Eyed Peas with Tomato Couscous

I was inspired to use kale and beans together after looking at the latest post over at the Mitten Machen blog. I can't say I've ever cooked the two together. So glad I tried it because it was really good and went perfectly atop a mound of tomato couscous (w/ a dollop of harissa for some heat!). I had a small cup of leftover tomato soup from the other day and used that with some water to cook my couscous. Such a great revamping leftovers idea as well as a beautiful color.

Black Eyed Pea Potato Burgers and Date Loaf Cake

I was in the mood for burgers today. I had some black eyed peas that I wanted to use as well as leftover mashed potato from last night's dinner. I mashed the peas and combined them with the potato, along with chopped onions, garlic, red pepper, zucchini, jalapeno, grated carrots, bread crumbs, smoked paprika, cumin and all purpose seasoning. I baked them for 35-40 minutes in a 400 degree oven, flipping halfway. They came out so nice and flavorful, crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.


Served on a pita with lettuce and garlic-dill aioli.


For dessert, I made a date loaf cake that came out so moist. I used whole wheat flour and sucanat in place of the white flour and regular sugar. I use this recipe all the time and it always comes out perfect.