Prep Time: 10 minutes
Soaking Time: 3 hours
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 55 minutes
Servings: 12

Black-eyed pea salad with collard greens is a delightful vegan side dish that features black-eyed peas tossed in a zesty garlic-ginger vinaigrette along with fresh veggies. This recipe is perfect for outdoor dining since it’s completely dairy-free. If you’re a fan of black-eyed peas, this vibrant and tasty twist on them is sure to become a new favorite!

About Black Eyed Pea Salad with Collard Greens:

This salad showcases dried black-eyed peas that are soaked and simmered until they're nice and tender. Once cooked, the peas are mixed with red onions and a zesty garlic-ginger vinaigrette, allowing them to soak up all that delicious flavor. To finish it off, we toss in some fresh collard greens and a colorful array of other veggies, creating a beautiful side dish that fits perfectly into any diet. This black-eyed pea salad with collard greens is not only vegan but also gluten-free. While using dried black-eyed peas does take a bit more time, I really love the texture they bring compared to canned or frozen options. But if you're in a hurry, feel free to use frozen or canned peas as a quick substitute!

Ingredients:

460 grams dried black eyed peas sorted

For the Garlic-Ginger Vinaigrette:

155 milliliters olive oil
3 large lemons juiced (or 80 milliliters)
1 small shallot rough chopped (about 20 grams)
3 large cloves garlic rough chopped
2 inch piece ginger peeled and chopped (about 15 grams)
20 milliliters maple syrup or agave syrup
15 grams Dijon mustard
6 grams kosher salt plus more to taste
1 gram harissa spice blend
1 gram ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

For the Salad:

1 bunch collard greens destemmed and sliced into ribbons (about 125 grams)
2 medium carrots peeled and minced (about 110 grams)
2 small Roma tomatoes seeded and diced (110 grams)
1/2 English cucumber seeded and diced (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 (15 grams)

Directions:

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.
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 cooking temperature to medium-low after the water comes to a boil.
Cover the pot and simmer the black eyed 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.
Pour half of the garlic-ginger vinaigrette into the bowl and use salad spoons to toss the peas and onions into the dressing.
Allow the peas to cool completely.
Add the collard greens, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, jalapeño, cilantro, and mint to the bowl of peas.
Add the remaining garlic-ginger vinaigrette and use the salad spoons to toss these ingredients together 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.

Tips & Notes:

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 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 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.

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.
You can also replace the cilantro with flat-leaf parsley, basil, or dill.

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, only freeze the softened black eyed peas. Thaw them when you're ready to make the salad, drain them, and continue with the rest of the recipe.

Nutrition:

Calories: 274kcal, Carbohydrates: 30g, Protein: 10g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 10g, Sodium: 195mg, Potassium: 593mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 2647IU, Vitamin C: 25mg, Calcium: 99mg, Iron: 4mg