Black Eyed Peas Salad

This Black Eyed Peas Salad is a crunchy, refreshing and deliciously tangy salad to ring in the new year and eat all year long. We call it Salada de Feijão Fradinho in Portuguese, which is fun to say and easy to make. This black eye pea salad recipe only requires chopping a few ingredients before you toss it in a tangy vinaigrette.

Oi Gente!

Over my years living in the United States I’ve learned that New Year’s Day celebrations have to have black eyed peas for good luck! Southern Living magazine has an excellent article about the symbolism of black eyed peas for people on New Year’s Day if you’re curious to learn more.

Why I love this Black eye pea salad recipe:

While black eyed peas are largely associated with New Years celebrations in the US, for Brazilians, our new years celebrations are usually packed with lentil dishes and other foods we believe bring good luck in the new year.

That said, I make this Black Eyed Pea Salad recipe all year long, especially in the summer. It’s refreshing like a Molho a Campanha Brazilian salsa, and similarly, is also such a great side for grilled meats like Beer Marinated Grilled Drumsticks and Picanha Recipe – Brazilian Coulotte Steaks.

I love how versatile this salad is, too.

Sometimes, I add fresh (or frozen) corn, jalapeños… and sometimes both!

And while this salad is already packed with vegetable protein from the beans, I sometimes add cubed ham to the mix for an even more filling lunch option.

Ingredients

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• Black eyed peas—you can cook your own or you can use canned. Just be sure to drain and rinse them well before throwing them into the salad.
• Green onions—we’ll be using the white and green parts of the green onions, which are also known as scallions. You’ll be mincing the white part, and slicing the green part!
• Yellow bell pepper—for a lovely crunch and pop of color.
• Tomatoes—use whatever good ones you can find fresh! This will vary throughout the year.
• Fresh cilantro—we need a lot of this goodness for the salad dressing. Dry will not work the same.
• Olive oil—this is the base of the salad dressing. I recommend using a high-quality, good-tasting olive oil.
• Red wine vinegar—this is the acid for our salad dressing. You can also use apple cider vinegar.
• Salt and black pepper

You can make this black eyed pea salad recipe even more fun by adding other things like corn, jalapeños, some arugula, red onion, diced ham, etc… Have fun with it!

Equipment:

• Sharp knife and cutting board
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring Cups

How to make Black Eyed Peas Salad

Prep your ingredients. Gather and measure the ingredients, and mince and dice the veggies.

Place the salad ingredients into a large bowl. This includes the diced veggies and the black eyed peas.

Make the dressing in another bowl. Combine the chopped cilantro with the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Whisk to combine.

Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients, and gently mix until combined.

Let the black eyed pea salad sit for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight, before you serve.

The longer the salad sits, the more pickle-y it gets, which is what I love the most about this salad. It’s so refreshing!

I love that this big batch yields enough to have for lunch all week long, or it’s a great portion to bring to picnics and holiday parties.

Be sure to serve with a slotted spoon to drain excess dressing when serving.

You can serve this salada de feijão fradinho by itself as an appetizer salad, use it to make a green salad over a bed of your favorite leafy greens, or just serve beside your favorite grilled or baked protein, like Baked Chicken Legs Recipe or Pan Seared Chicken Breasts.

Other Salad Recipes you’ll love:

• Vegan Potato Salad
• Brazilian Pasta Salad with Mayo
• Arugula Quinoa Salad
• Pear Salad Recipe with Port Wine Dressing and Grilled Cheese

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