Tex-Mex Black Eyed Pea Dip

For Superbowl Sunday, we were invited to a family get together that was pot luck style. I signed up to make an appetizer and dessert weeks ago, and figured I'd decide what to make closer to the date. A few weeks later, I had a strange craving for Black Eyed Peas, so I bought a pound of dried beans at the grocery store. After cooking them, I ate a small bowl and then put the remaining 7-8 c. of cooked beans in the fridge. And I was stumped... what to do, what to do? 

Finally, the morning of the Superbowl, I searched the pantry and fridge for ingredients to make a dessert and appetizer, and kept coming back to the Black Eyes Peas. Surely  there was some sort of dip or croquette I could make with them, so I did a little google-ing. I found a Paula Deen recipe that was shockingly healthy, and looked really delicious. I even had most of the ingredients on hand, so I got to work on it. I made a few changes, Paula's recipe seemed pretty basic (read: bland), so I decided to give it a Tex-Mex flavor, a cross between Chipotle's two salsas with the addition of beans. The end result was a delicious, fresh salsa/dip that was perfect with Tostitos scoops chips! This also made a little over 2 quarts of dip, so it was plentiful.

Note: I highly recommend cooking dried beans for this, canned tend to be mushy, and for this dip you want the peas to hold their shape and have a bit of a bite. I simply added 1 lb. beans to 8 c. salted water, brought to a boil, reduced and simmered for 45 minutes/1 hour, drained, cooled and stored in the refrigerator. 

Tex-Mex Black Eyed Pea Dip

heavily adapted from Paula Deen

3/4 lb. dried Black Eyed Peas, cooked

2 c. frozen corn kernels

1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 green bell pepper, finely diced

1 red bell pepper, finely diced

4 scallions, minced (or 1/4 red onion)

1/2 c. roughly chopped cilantro

1 small jalapeño, seeded and minced

dressing:

1 garlic clove, pasted with salt

Juice of 1 lime

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. honey

1/2 c. EVOO

Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

Add all salad ingredients to a large plastic storage container or serving bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together garlic, lime juice, vinegar, chili powder, cumin and honey.

Slowly add EVOO, whisking constantly.

Taste, season with kosher salt and pepper.

Add dressing to the dip, toss well and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Toss well before serving, chilled, with scoops chips.