Black Eyed Pea Salsa with Cheese Quesadillas

It’s New Year’s and an excellent reason to make a dish with black-eyed peas, a good luck tradition for the new year. Black-eyed peas are great any time of the year, but sometimes a celebratory excuse is all we need.

This is a straightforward dish, black-eyed peas prepared in a salsa to be served with lightly browned flour quesadillas filled with melty jack cheese. Perfect for lunch.

The recipe can be as simple as you want. You can use canned black-eyed peas, roasted bell peppers, and green chiles, or you can cook the peas or roast the chiles and peppers yourself.

In the batch I’ve prepared here, I used canned black-eyed peas, and roasted my own poblano and red bell peppers. The chiles were mild, so I added some chopped pickled jalapeños.

Happy New Year!

Black Eyed Pea Salsa with Cheese Quesadillas Recipe

If starting with dry beans, use 2 cups, put in a pot, cover with a couple inches of salted water, bring to a boil, reduce to a very low simmer, and cook uncovered until done, anywhere from 30 to 90 min. Rinse with cold water and drain.

I used a combination of freshly roasted poblano chiles and pickled jalapeños. This is because the poblanos I had were exceptionally mild and I wanted more heat, which I was able to get from the pickled jalapeños. Use some combination of cooked green chiles, either canned or fresh. Taste for heat and adjust to your preference.

Ingredients

Black-eyed Pea Salsa

• About 3 1/4 to 4 cups cooked black-eyed peas (2 15.5-ounce cans, rinsed, drained)
• 1/2 to 2/3 cups of chopped, cooked, mild green chiles (2 large poblanos or 3 anaheims, roasted, seeded, and chopped) AND/OR 1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapeños (to taste)
• 1/2 to 2/3 cups of chopped roasted red bell pepper (can use jarred marinated or roast fresh red bell peppers by charring over a gas flame or under a broiler, placing in a covered bowl for a few minutes, wiping off the char, seeding, and chopping)
• 6 to 8 green onions, thinly sliced including at least half of the greens, about 1/2 to 2/3 cup total
• 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped, tender stems included (about a cup)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
• Large pinch of ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Quesadillas

• 1 dozen flour tortillas
• 8 ounces Monterey jack cheese, sliced or grated

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