Blackeyed peas and chard stew
March 19, 2015 • Category: Main Dish
This is my contribution for St-Patrick’s day (it is green!). I am too busy this week to create something more elaborate. It would (I am sure) please my friend and neighbor in Dallas, Mary, who is of Irish descent, and loves to drop by to sample my cooking. It is a a typical homestyle dish in Lebanon and is usually flavored with the addition of cilantro and garlic “pesto”. If you have some already made in the freezer, you will save a few minutes of prepping. The swiss chard can of course be replaced by the latest darling of the food scene, kale (or some other green like spinach).
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 1/2 cups of blackeyed peas, soaked overnight, drained and cooked in plenty of water or 2 cans drained and rinsed under tap water.
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 bunch Swiss chard, cut into thin ribbons (the traditional way is to separate stalks from the leaves and cut each separately then boil the stalks till tender and add back to the stew)
- 1 bunch cilantro, washed, drained and chopped (leaves only)
- 1 tablespoon mashed garlic
- salt, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice or pepper
- 1 lemon, cut into quarters
- Heat the oil in a large pot and fry the onion till translucent (cover the pot to speed-up this process). Add the garlic and cilantro and fry for 5 seconds, stirring with a wooden spoon. Add the chard and beans and about 1 cup of water and simmer gently until the chard has wilted and softened, keeping the pot half covered.
2. Serve with the lemon quarters to squeeze over the stew.
Comments
17 Comments • Comments Feed
Rosa says:
A scrumptious combination!
Cheers,
Rosa
On March 19, 2015 at 6:57 am
Chris says:
Yum! We do a very similar one with ground turkey!
http://www.weheartfood.com/2010/04/black-eyed-pea-ground-turkey-and-chard-stew.html
On March 19, 2015 at 6:14 pm
samir says:
ty for posting this classic.. it is not only very very delicious ,, its a powerhouse of nutrients…..have you ever used the frozen black eyed peas?..I have been using them lately and really like ,, any thoughts if you have used them ?…
On March 21, 2015 at 7:33 am
Nuts about food says:
My winter has been full of legumes with greens, one of my favorite comfort foods… I have not had this combination yet and have made a mental note of that garlic and cilantro pesto… delicious!
On March 23, 2015 at 10:43 am
Joumana says:
@samir: no, I haven’t, great idea though! Glad they are available though! Here in Beirut, one find all kinds of frozen things, like stuffed grape leaves, sfeeha, shish barak, etc. Did you find them in a US supermarket?
@Nuts about Food: I agree, comforting this is! and easy. The neat thing is you can make a bunch of garlic and cilantro fried in olive oil and freeze what you don’t use for another dish later.
@Chris: Great idea, glad to see you stop by!
@Rosa: Thanks indeed! 🙂
On March 24, 2015 at 6:55 am
Joumana says:
@samir: no, I haven’t, great idea though! Glad they are available though! Here in Beirut, one find all kinds of frozen things, like stuffed grape leaves, sfeeha, shish barak, etc. Did you find them in a US supermarket?
@Nuts about Food: I agree, comforting this is! and easy. The neat thing is you can make a bunch of garlic and cilantro fried in olive oil and freeze what you don’t use for another dish later.
@Chris: Great idea, glad to see you stop by!
@Rosa: Thanks 🙂
On March 24, 2015 at 6:55 am
samir says:
yes most good supermarkets , here in Florida, have them frozen.. sometimes organic too..
On March 24, 2015 at 9:02 am
Jerry says:
Found your site looking for info on Sujok. I love black-eyed peas, or BEPs as I like to call them, and this simple dish is a natural for our household. Thanks!
BTW I thought there was Swiss Chard and just plain Chard was different so when I got to the supermarket and all they had was Swiss Chard I made it with kale and it was great anyway. Then I came and looked up Chard.
On May 24, 2015 at 3:05 am
Joumana says:
@Jerry: Actually all of these vegan dishes, so popular in Lebanon, can be made with any greens, even turnip greens, beet greens, spinach, etc.
On May 25, 2015 at 6:25 am
Scotia says:
I made this a couple of weeks ago in anticipation of using it on St. Patty’s Day this year. We really love it. The flavors blend really well. I used baby kale this time, but next time I’ll try the chard.
This Dallas girl loves finding many ways to use blackeyed peas!
Thank you again for a wonderful recipe. Just watched your video on easy baklava. That is next to try.
On February 21, 2016 at 11:05 pm
Joumana says:
@Scotia: So glad to hear you liked it! 🙂 Happy St Patty’s Day, belatedly
On May 26, 2016 at 6:02 pm
Sara says:
My mom used to make this dish. The last time I had it was about 20 years when i lived in Syria. I just made it and its very yummy, healthy and brings a lot of childhood memory. it looks different from the original dish , though, since here in Toronto i could only find a reddish kind of swiss chard.
Thank you for sharing the recipe, i would have missed the cilantro without it.
On July 28, 2016 at 2:20 am
Amanda says:
I was looking for a simple dish to make with a bag of black eyed peas I had sitting in my cupboard, and wow, this recipe did not disappoint.
So incredibly simple and delicious!
On March 17, 2021 at 5:29 pm
Joumana Accad says:
@Amanda Happy you liked it Amanda! Best, Joumana
On March 25, 2021 at 10:51 pm
B. Gee says:
Cannt wait to try this soup. But I’m not a fan of Swiss chard. So what do you suggest for a substitute? Thank you!!
On November 19, 2022 at 7:37 pm
Joumana says:
Spinach can work just as well!
On November 19, 2022 at 7:43 pm
Annie says:
LOVE this recipe! Lived in Greece and love black eyed peas but got tired of the same recipes. This tastes so green and great!!! Making it a second time this week but this time I doubled the recipe for 4 people
On October 31, 2024 at 12:07 am