Black-Eyed Pea Dip (served warm)

[DirectDrive]

I don't do much with black-eyed peas which apparently are a type of bean.
A local restaurant, Cactus Ya Ya serves their complimentary chips with a salsa and also with a black-eyed pea dip (always served warm).
I've always wanted to break the code on this awesome black-eyed dip and recently had some success.
Found a recipe on line that sounded right, changed it up a bit as noted and the first batch met my expectations.
Very easy and economical.

Black-Eyed Pea Dip

Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 60 mins
Total time: 1 hour 30 mins
Serves: 10-12



Ingredients

1 1/2 cups dried black eyed peas, rinsed

6-8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (or more!) _The Ya Ya dip is vegan-friendly so I left this out

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ whole Onion, Chopped Fine

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 cup salsa (hot if you want to add some zing!) _I used Pace Picante Hot

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, divided _Had to leave this out for vegan-compliance

¼ cup chopped jalepeno _I did one large-ish jalepeno

Salt And Black Pepper To Taste _I did 1/2 tsp of each

Sour cream, optional _Had to leave this out

_I added 1/4 (or 1/2 tsp) teaspoon Chipotle Pepper Powder (will add a little more heat)



Instructions

1. Bring a pot of water to boil _I put water at 1" over the beans and still had to add more

2. Dump in the dried peas and boil for 30 minutes, or until tender (as tender as a canned black bean would be). Don't let them get too mushy!! _I kept checking them for tenderness like I would for pasta

3. Drain the beans

3a. At this point I sautéed the onion and garlic, then gently mixed all ingredients in a sauce pan.
I pre-mixed the salsa and dry ingredients first in the skillet and then added it to the cooked beans.
Then I did the rest of the cook on the stove top.....no oven step.
They were on the stove top simmering for about 45 minutes.
Add water as needed for desired consistency.


4. While the beans are boiling, fry, drain, and chop 6-8 slices of bacon. Reserve 2 tbsp. of bacon grease

5. In the same skillet, add in the chopped onion and garlic. Saute until tender

6. Preheat oven to 350°

7. In a large bowl, stir together the beans, chopped bacon, sauteed veggies, 1 cup of the shredded cheese and the remaining ingredients

8. Spread into a 7″x11″ prepared dish (or similar sized dish)

9. Bake for 20 minutes then top with remaining cheese and bake for an additional 5 minutes (or until the cheese is melted)

10. Serve hot with tortilla or corn chips and sour cream, if you like!

Doing the non-vegan, Full Monty version sounds great as well !
This dip is excellent re-heated and beats anything store-bought that I've had.
My version's spiciness was somewhere between Medium and Hot....closer to Medium.

[Idahawk]

I bet it's a lot like hummus , very cool !

[DirectDrive]

I bet it's a lot like hummus , very cool !

In a way it is similar, but the beans are still sort of whole...a little broken down, I suppose.
Not creamy.....more texture to it.
It also does not have the strong, unique flavor of hummus....it can be delicate or hot or somewhere in-between.
Easy to make and re-heats very well.