Who the hell ever said that black-eyed peas had to just be a New Year’s day thing? Yes, I’m deliberately posting this recipe AFTER the first of the year to be a bit of a rebel.

Every year in my house, it’s the same old debate. What do we do with black-eyed peas to make them more edible. Let’s face it, black-eyed peas earned their nickname ‘dirt peas’ for a reason. Over the years, I’d like to think that I’ve come up with a few clever ways.

This year though, with a cold running rampant through the house… something FRESH and light sounded like what we all needed.

So. As you can see this really isn’t a salad in the sense of lettuce and veggies. I’m calling this salad as something more akin to chicken salad or egg salad. Something that’s dipable. Cold. And delicious. This ‘salad’ is loaded with lots and LOTS of bell pepper, onion, tomato… If you’re familiar with Cowboy Caviar, it’s somewhat similar to that!

I served mine with some tortilla chips for scooping and called it a day. But really, you could serve this any old way in which you fancy. Atop an actual salad would be good too, or among a spread of queso and guacamole if you were feeling naughty.

It’s got just a bit of a tex-me flare with the jalapeño in there. And despite the beans in there, looks a lot like a chunky salsa or pico de gallo. No matter which way you decide to go, this stuff is yummy and all those fresh flavors in there mute the black-eye peas to give a nice cool crunch of YUM.

Step-by-Step Photos:

Nutritional Claims: Low Fat Abs • Sugar Conscious • Vegan • Vegetarian • Pescatarian • Dairy Free • Gluten Free • Wheat Free • Egg Free • Milk Free • Peanut Free • Tree Nut Free • Soy Free • Fish Free • Shellfish Free • Pork Free • Red Meat Free • Crustacean Free • Celery Free • Mustard Free • Sesame Free • Lupine Free • Mollusk Free • Alcohol Free • Kosher