Next time you want to serve a bean dip, forget about hummus and make this faster-cooking Black-eyed Pea Dip. When making a bean dip, it’s preferable to use fresh beans instead of canned, but their preparation is normally time-consuming. However, dried black-eyed peas cook to completion in only 45 minutes. I was tired of the soaking, simmering, and removing chickpea skins for hummus, so this dip became my standard for parties instead. Once the peas are cooked, you throw everything into a food processor and pulse your way to completion.
The obvious garnish for this bean dip is more fresh parsley, but also consider crushing up some baked kale chips, and check out my tips on how to do that successfully.
Roasting the garlic mellows out its flavor and gives it a hint of sweetness as the extracted juices caramelize, and the interiors soften. It only takes about 20 to 30 minutes to roast garlic, which can happen while you’re simultaneously simmering the Black-eyed peas until they’re soft. Instead of firing up a large oven just to cook a couple of tiny heads of garlic, it can be done more easily in a toaster oven, compact convection oven, or you can even gently cook whole cloves on a dry pan over the stovetop (aka pan roasting).
Serve this bean dip just as you would with hummus, on crackers, topped with my Shoestring Fried Sweet Potatoes, or spread it as a layer in a plant-based sandwich or wrap. If you want Black-eyed Peas but are not in the mood for a dip, make my Black-eyed Pea Tabouli Salad.
Black-Eyed Pea Dip with Roasted Garlic
Ingredients for black-eyed pea dip
- 2 cups dry black-eyed peas (4 cups cooked)
- 10-15 cloves roasted garlic (usually 2 bulbs)
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- 3 whole Roma tomatoes, peeled
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup freshly chopped parsley, tightly packed
Instructions
- Bring black-eyed peas to a brief boil in salted water, then reduce heat to a simmer until tender (about 45 minutes to one hour).
- Meanwhile, slice off the top third of two heads of garlic crosswise. Coat it with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and black pepper. Roast the garlic at 400 degrees in a toaster oven until the cloves are soft and slightly caramelized.
- Load the cooked black-eyed peas, roasted garlic, and all other ingredients in a food processor and pulse until thoroughly combined, and serve.
Yield: About 7 cups
