My simple black-eyed peas and rice recipe
July 29th, 2007
So for years I have been eating black beans and rice as a staple meal at home. I recently switched from black beans to black-eyed peas and added other grains for variety, and feel I have stumbled upon a simple yet very tasty and fulfilling meal.

The recipe:

  • 1/8 to 1/4 cup quinoa (highly nutritious grain from South America)
  • 1/8 to 1/4 cup barley
  • 1/2+ cup brown basmati rice (so 1 cup of grains total)
  • 1 1/2 cup frozen black-eyed peas (frozen or dried has more taste and nutrients than canned)
  • 3 1/4 cups water (determine from trial and error, depends on how you cook it)
Season to taste, here is what I use:
  • sea salt
  • chili powder
  • turmeric
  • cumin
  • nutritional yeast
I use a "fuzzy rice cooker" to cook everything (I even dump the frozen black-eyed peas in with the grains). The "fuzzy" rice cookers automatically adjust their temperature to not burn the grains, and apparently help it adjust to having the frozen black-eyed peas in there as well. The whole meal takes me 3 minutes to make and 40 minutes to cook (and creates a very pleasing aroma while doing so.)

I use as many organic ingredients as possible, and in this case everything is organic except for the black-eyed peas. I need to try out some dried organic black-eyed peas, but have been putting that off since I know I'll have to soak them for hours ahead of time before using. I've always believed organic ingredients were worth the extra cost, to give our bodies the best materials available to replenish and repair itself. As cheesey as this adage sounds, "you are what you eat," it is nonetheless the truth.

Black beans and rice supposedly contains all the essential amino acids that vegetarians need to ensure they are getting to stay healthy (admittingly not a concern for meat eaters.) I need to verify that is true of black-eyed peas and rice as well, though it is cited as a healthy source of vegetable protein.

Anyway, thought I would share my simple recipe that I wish I had discovered years ago...