Inflation got you down? We are adding more low-cost foods to our menu. Our current goal is to eat one legume-based dinner each week. This also means we’ll have leftovers for lunch one to two times.

I had very little knowledge of beans before I started this quest. I cooked some standard bean and lentil dishes, but it was always the same few. Now, I’m trying not only new recipes but also new beans. I’ve never made or eaten Moroccan-style black-eyed peas. In fact, I never tried black-eyed peas! I was surprised to learn that black-eyed peas are actually a bean (not a pea). They are part of a large group of beans belonging to the cowpea family. Why are they called cowpeas? Apparently, farmers fed these beans to cows. However, they are perfectly edible for humans. My daughter, who was in the Peace Corps in Africa, said that cowpeas are a staple food there.

Let’s get into the recipe. As usual, I’ll be making a substitution or two based on what I have on hand. Honestly, I have no idea what the final dish is supposed to look or taste like, since this recipe is my only reference. It is written for a stovetop cook. I’ll adapt it for an electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot). This recipe is from Allrecipes.com

I sorted my Amazon-branded black-eyed peas and was disappointed to find so many bad beans.

When I recently cooked Amazon-branded Navy beans, they took twice as long as they should to soften in an electric pressure cooker. I researched the topic and discovered that Amazon-branded beans were often old. I went back to my traditional overnight soak for these black-eyed peas. Per my research, I also added 1T salt and 1t baking soda to my soak to enhance softening. Naturally, I toughly rinsed my beans before added them to the recipe.

I was in a hurry and didn’t read the recipe carefully. Instead of soaking 1.5 cups of dry beans, I soaked the whole one-pound bag. I discovered this while making the recipe, so I adapted. It worked out in the end, but I should be more careful, especially when making a recipe for the first time.

Here are the very simple ingredients. I didn’t have any fresh cilantro so I’m using some dried cilantro. 1T = 1/4 cup of the fresh. You can often substitute long-lasting ingredients in a pinch. Garlic powder or jarlic for fresh garlic, dried herbs for fresh, etc. Is fresh better? Probably, but substitutions are good too.

Lately, I have been fascinated by electric pressure cookers (Instant Pots and their clones). Electric pressure cooker design and programming options vary widely among models and brands. This Commercial Chef pot is a rebrand of a pot sold by the British grocer ASDA under its “George’s” house brand. ASDA sold their pot for only £35. Because of this low price I assumed that its components would be pretty low end, but when I did a teardown of the unit I found the construction to be comparable to Instant Pot construction. Amazing! However, whoever did the firmware programming of this pot had to be an engineer rather than a cook. The presets don’t show the cook time of program selected, Instead the display flashes the preset number, making this function useless. However, you can manual set a pressure cook time, so all is good.

I decided to use chicken broth instead of water. In it goes into my electric pressure cooker. Pressure cookers require less water as there is less evaporation due to their sealed environment. However, I was in a quandary as I already soaked more beans than the recipe called for due to my carelessness. What to do? I guessed! I’m adding around 4 cups of rehydrated Better Than Bouillon chicken broth. Sometimes you just have to do you best guess based on the information that you have.

Next, my soaked black-eyed peas.

Now, the chopped onion and garlic. I should have pressed the garlic instead of slicing it. Why did I slice it? Because it was easier, of course!

Now the tomato sauce.

Finally, the spices. Since I had more beans, I upped the spices. For instance, if it called for 1 and 1/2 teaspoons, I used 2 teaspoons. Again, another guess. I did keep the cayenne pepper at 1/4 teaspoon. I like a little heat, but too much makes me cough uncontrollably. Remember, recipes are guidelines. It is OK to adjust them to your personal preferences as long as you don’t go too far afield.

In goes 1 tablespoon of dried cilantro and the 1/2 C of EVOO.

Now a quick stir.

I closed the pot and made sure it was on sealing. I manually set the pot to cook my pre-soaked black-eyed peas for 15 minutes. Now it was time for my electric pressure cooker to take over. If you like firmer beans, use 12 minutes for the pressure cooking time.

I allowed the pot a 15-minute natural release before opening the pot. Always follow you pot’s safety instructions. For instance make sure that the float value is down before attempting to open the lid. If there is resistance to opening the lid it suggests that the pot is still under pressure. If the float valve is up and no steam is coming out of the exhaust vent unplug the pot and wait at least 1 hour before attempting to open the lid again. It is possible that food plugged the pressure release valve and float valve preventing the pot’s steam from fully evacuating. Has this ever happened to me? No, but better safe than sorry.

Here are my Moroccan black-eyed peas served up. I served them with rice, but I’m not sure that is correct. However, they were delicious, and I would serve them with rice again.

How do black-eyed peas taste? My uneducated palate suggests that they are similar to pinto beans. Will I make them again? Heck yes, I bought three bags!

Peace

Mike