It was so good, and I was so surprised, that I thought I'd share -
1 cup cooked black eyed peas, 1 cup cooked chard, a Tbs or so of balsamic vinagrette, 1/2 chopped red pepper and 2 tbs cotija cheese. a couple of sprigs of cilantro
I warmed the BEP and the chard just long enough to be about room temperature, tossed in the cheese, pepper and cilantro and "dressed it" with the vinagrette. My beans had a lot of pepper in them, so if you used canned, I would add some black pepper to the vinagrette.
Wow! the red pepper and the chard and the smoky-peppery beans with a little smoothing from the cheese and the oil in the vinegrette- it just all came together in a way that was more than the sum of the parts.
It's pretty too- although my camera phone doesn't do it justice. The red of the peppers and the green of the chard compensate for the dull gray beans, with flecks of white cheese for accent.
I'm almost tempted to make it again for the Scientist for dinner, Except there's not much chard left- maybe I'll just make it for myself again for lunch :)
Yum. too bad B finished the BEP's! I have Kale so I could have tried it with Kale...
ReplyDeleteThis looks like anther good one.
ReplyDeleteIs the cotija cheese similar to feta? I'm not sure if I have ever seen cotija here.
And, since I am pestering you, do the BEPs have a smoky taste on their own? or did you cook them with something other than the pepper?
Cotija or Cotijo, is usually labeled Queso Seco up in these parts, and Feta is a pretty good substitution, although Cotija doesn't have the slightly gamy sheeps milk flavor that feta does.
ReplyDeleteBlack eyed peas to me have a taste that is slightly metallic (in a good way!) I cooked these with bacon which gave them a smoky flavor that worked well with their natural tang.