Beet and Black-Eyed Pea Salad

Add black-eyed peas to your Christmas table with this colorful salad that combines them with beets, feta cheese, and toasted pecans. To save time, substitute 3 cups of canned black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained, for the dried peas. You could also use canned beets instead of fresh.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Ingredients

• 1  cup  dried black-eyed peas
• 1/3  cup  rice vinegar
• 2  tablespoons  olive oil
• 2  tablespoons  spicy brown mustard
• 2  teaspoons  sugar
• 1  teaspoon  grated orange rind
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 7  cups  coarsely chopped peeled beets (about 2 1/2 pounds)
• 1/4  cup  (1 ounce) crumbled feta cheese
• 2  tablespoons  chopped pecans, toasted
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

Sort and wash black-eyed peas; place in a small saucepan. Cover with water to 2 inches above peas; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand for 1 hour. Drain peas, and place in a saucepan. Cover with water to 2 inches above peas. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until tender. Drain.

Combine vinegar and next 5 ingredients (vinegar through salt) in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk.

Steam the beets, covered, for 25 minutes or until done. Arrange the beets on a platter, and top with peas. Sprinkle with cheese, pecans, and parsley. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

184 (29% from fat)

Fat:

6g (sat 1.2g,mono 3.5g,poly 0.9g)

Protein:

5.2g

Carbohydrate:

28.6g

Fiber:

7.8g

Cholesterol:

3mg

Iron:

2.1mg

Sodium:

359mg

Calcium:

127mg