Blackeyed Pea Confetti Salad (and variations)

Above:  Confetti Salad and "In the Pink" variation

Happy New Year!

Blackeyed Pea Confetti Salad
Amounts of ingredients can be varied to taste.
The honey in this recipe seems to go especially well with blackeyed peas and mild chiles.  Feel free to use sugar instead if you're in a hurry. 

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon celery salt with regular salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup salad oil or olive oil
1/4 cup honey

1/4 to 1/3 cup diced onion or scallions, or up to 3/4 cup diced sweet red or white onion
1 pound frozen blackeyed peas, cooked until firm but tender (about 3 cups)
  (or substitute canned blackeyed peas - up to two 15 oz. cans, drained)
about 1/3 to 1/2 cup diced red and/or yellow bell pepper, diced
about 1/3 to 1/2 cup diced Pasilla chile (or Ancho, Poblano, Mulato Isleno, Anaheim
   or other mild green to brown/black chile)

Combine vinegar, seasonings, oil and honey (measure honey in the same cup as the oil). Add onion and allow to sit while cooking blackeyed peas according to package directions - but just until you can mash a pea easily against a spoon with your finger - as little as 5 minutes after bringing to a boil. Watch carefully that you don't cook them too long or they will be mushy. Drain and rinse to cool peas to lukewarm.

Remove seeds and membranes from chile and taste to be sure it isn't too hot for the people who will be eating it. Vary the amount of chile depending on spiciness. Pasillas or Anchos are normally quite sweet with a fruity taste and just a little heat. You can substitute green bell pepper if necessary.

Mix all ingredients. Allow to sit for two hours at room temperature to blend flavors, or refrigerate overnight, stirring a couple of times. Serve over salad greens or steamed vegetables. If you really want to impress people, try using a good raw apple cider vinegar from a natural food store.

Update 2011 New Years Day - Canned garbanzo recipe:  I couldn't find frozen blackeyed peas this year.  I made half a recipe with a can of organic (no sulfite) garbanzo beans and all Ancho peppers.  Traded confetti appearance from red bell pepper for more picante zing.  The garbanzos were quite crunchy.  The Ancho peppers were a little hotter than expected.  I served the salad over greens with shoestring beets and black olives.

Leftovers:  Added a can of green beans and a little more onion and chile to the leftover marinade with remaining garbanzos - a remembrance of "three bean salad" for tomorrow.

Variation:  In-the-Pink Salad
This is a good recipe to make if the power is out, as it requires no cooking or refrigeration.
Add some diced celery before serving if you want more crunch. Serve over greens. A good way to shake off holiday sleepiness, but this salad is good all year.  Try black beans and shoestring beets at Halloween for a spooky-looking salad

1/2 cup distilled white or apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon celery salt with regular salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste
Up to 1/4 cup sugar (beets add some sweetness)
1/2 cup liquid drained from beets (below).  See notes.  

1/4 to 1/3 cup diced onion or scallions, or up to 3/4 cup diced sweet red or white onion
Two to 4 cups cooked light-colored beans  - up to two 15-oz cans, rinsed and drained.
     (Lima, Peruano or Pinto for soft texture, Cannellini or garbanzos for firmer texture)

About 1/3 to 2/3 cup diced Pasilla, Ancho, Poblano, Mulato Isleno, Anaheim
   or other mild green to brown/black chile.  Or use green bell pepper.  Or omit peppers.
One 15-oz can sliced or shoestring beets, drained.  Cut sliced beets in quarters or sixths. 

2 Tablespoons to 1/4 cup salad oil or olive oil

Combine marinade ingredients.  Add onions (allow to soak for a while if onions are strong) then the beans, chiles and beets.  You can cover and refrigerate at this point.

When ready to serve salad, remove from the marinade to a serving bowl with a slotted spoon and toss with a little oil.   If you are not refrigerating the salad, waiting until serving time to add the oil is a good idea for food safety. 

NOTES:  To serve after just 2 or 3 hours, leave out the beet juice and leave salad on the counter.  Stir occasionally.  Use liquid from canned beets to increase volume of marinade if you want to leave the salad in the refrigerator for several hours unattended.   Marinate should almost cover bean mixture.  You can add more marinate ingredients proportionally if you need more marinade.   

Stocking up: If the power is out, this salad can be made without cooking if you use canned beans in either of the salads above. The salads will keep for a few hours without refrigeration and it tastes good at room temperature. Don't push the unrefrigerated storage time too long in hot weather.

Vinegar, honey and oil are standard storage items. In place of frozen blackeyed peas, you can use 3 or 4 cups of firm, canned or cooked dried blackeyed peas, small white beans or pink beans - or whatever beans you have. You may not need added salt in the salad. Drain well any beans you use. Rinse canned beans.

If you make the salad with regular beans and bell peppers instead of chiles, try using a tablespoon or two of sugar in place of the honey and adding some Italian seasoning. You can mix green or wax beans with cooked or canned dried beans for a multi-bean salad. In a pinch, dried onions and bell pepper flakes or dried, flaked or powdered hot red pepper can be used instead of the fresh ingredients, though they won't taste the same. Serve this salad with a grain product for a complete protein, or add some drained, canned hominy.

Background: In much of the South and among the Okies of California, it's traditional to eat blackeyed peas (usually as Hoppin' John, -- or at least with ham) on New Years Day, as a good-luck dish. The peas are supposed to resemble coins. I think the original European tradition called for the eating of lentils, which actually do resemble coins a little. I don't place much stock in the power of legumes to help me make money in the coming year. But you could eat worse things than blackeyed peas or lentil soup on New Years Day.

This is a takeoff on three-bean salad. It looks sort of like confetti, making it appropriate for a New Years celebration, and has a little zing and a little sweetness as a way to start off the New Year. Try it with garbanzos, limas or butterbeans, too.   Or maybe light-colored lentils (slightly sprouted or not, cooked until tender but still firm).  Blackeyed Peas, small white beans or lentils would give the most confetti-like appearance to the salad for New Years Day.

Food Sensitivities, Migraine: Blackeyed peas are not really my thing, though David's family is attached to them. The whole cowpea family is a problem for me, especially if I eat the pods. If I eat too many of them, I get a migraine. Same with some other legumes (especially if eaten two days in a row). Migraineurs are warned to watch their reactions to snow peas and Italian beans, but not regular garden (English) peas or green beans. I say, watch your own personal reactions. Somehow, I am OK with a small serving of this salad.