A fun, lively salad to make in the winter using black eyed peas, mini bell peppers, and pine nuts. All of this is topped off with a delicious, homemade blood orange vinaigrette.
One of the most exciting things around Eat Like No One Else this year has been my relationship with Frieda's Produce.
They have send me some amazing things from finger limes to Green Dragon apples.
I was their Featured Blogger for the month of August! To say thank you to them and use up some of my last shipment I have come up with a salad that also is the perfect way to ring in the New Year.
It features Black Eyed Peas which are a New Year's stable as people believe they will bring good luck for them for the coming year.
Plus it's the time of year when people realize that the pants that fit perfectly at the end of summer now seem quite a bit more snug - so it's time to eat more salads.
This salad contains the following Frieda's products:
- Black Eyed Peas
- Moro Blood Oranges
- Pine Nuts
- Mini Sweet Peppers
- Black Garlic
The Black Eyed Peas
I got the Black Eyed Peas in the dried form. They don't take as long to cook as other legumes. I followed the instructions on the package, which said to add them to boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and cover for 1 hour.
After that hour they were perfectly ready for the salad. The peas were cooked through but not too soft. I recommend adding some salt to them when done.
You could also make them in the Instant Pot. I would say to cook them for 30 minutes at high pressure.
Moro Blood Oranges
I used the Moro Blood Oranges to make a vinaigrette for the salad. The early season blood oranges tend to be more tart than later on in the season. The flavor was good, but needed some honey to balance out the tartness.
I recommend orange blossom honey, as it just seemed right.
Pine Nuts
This standard pesto ingredient goes well on a salad. Once I opened the package, I keep it in the fridge to keep them from going rancid.
If you want a cheaper alternative use you can use sunflower kernels instead. I often use them in place of pine nuts in pesto as they are a lot cheaper.
Mini Sweet Peppers
These mini peppers have certainly exploded in popularity over the last several years.
They pack a sweet flavor in a small package. Also they are more tender than larger bell peppers, making them perfect raw in salads
Chopped them in half and add them to the salad. Much better than using out of season tomatoes that lack any flavor.
Black Garlic
As the name suggest this garlic is black. It turns black during a 3 week fermentation period, where the garlic goes into a machine that maintain a certain temperature and humidity.
It produces a garlic that has a sweet molasses flavor. The smell itself reminds me of Worcestershire sauce. The texture is almost jelly like. I used a 1 clove for my dressing by just smashing it up which is easy with it's soft texture.
If you can't find black garlic, then just go ahead and sub in regular garlic.
For another recipe using black garlic see my Electric Skillet GARLIC Chicken
Salad Greens
As for the greens for this salad, I used a combination of baby kale, baby chard, baby spinach, and green & red oak leaf lettuce. I picked this up at my local Trader Joe's. This provided flavor and color to the salad.
Kale is among the most nutrient dense foods, so adding it to a salad is a great way to enjoy it raw.
Thanks Frieda's for your amazing produce that was the inspiration for this fun salad.
Ingredients
For the dressing
- The juice of 4 Blood Oranges
- The zest of 1 blood orange
- 4 oz sunflower oil or another neutral tasting oil
- 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 1 clove black garlic
- 1 tablespoon orange blossom honey
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt less or more to taste
For the salad
- 5 oz mixed baby greens kale, chard, spinach
- 2 small heads green and red oak leaf lettuce
- handful of pine nuts
- handful of cooked black eyed peas prepared according to instructions on package
- 1 bag mini sweet peppers
- Parmesan cheese for topping optional
Instructions
To make the dressing
- Add the zest of 1 Blood Orange to a mixing bowl. Add the juice of 4 blood oranges. Then slowly whisk in the oil. Add salt to taste.
- Add the vinegar, black garlic, and honey.
- Using a whisk mix well to combine.
To make the salad
- Wash and then dry all the salad greens, mix to combine.
- Cut off the top of the sweet peppers and slice in half, removing the seeds. Add the pine nuts and cooked black eyed peas.
- Top with the dressing and Parmesan cheese.
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