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Can I just put fresh black eyed peas in the soup with the other veg?

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

I didn't give a lot of thought to it when I bought a big bag of fresh black eyed peas. I'm always game for something new, but my experience with fresh beans is more like favas or garbanzos. I've just shelled the BEPs. Some are still green, others are big and white.

So I figured out they'd be really good in a vegetable bean soup. i don't need a recipe for that, but a nice one came over the transom from Sur La Table this week. The beans are pretty tender. I was thinking I could just put them in first so they'd have plenty of time to cook, but is that a good idea? Is that too long? Should I cook them separately?

I could just go for it, but I'd rather not ruin the beans or the soups by making an ignorant mistake.

Any advice? Thanks!

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Comments (3)

sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
2 years ago
When i have a new unfamiliar ingredient like that i always cook separately. Does not really require much effort. Just another smaller pan on the back burner using the same miropoix and stock. I do the same when i try a new dried bean. Like the recent RanchoGordo baby lima. I soaked and cooked a third of the bag. Put a note on the rest of the bag the time and wrote 'sturdy'. Some beans, when tender, don't hold up well. I write 'not sturdy' and use accordingly with that in mind.

Bummer if the two different ones cook differently. Would just go ahead and let the other go a bit over. It will just add to the 'gravy' of the soup.

Cooking separately will also hold onto the freshness if they have that when cooked.

I do that with pretty much all my soups. Always a few things like a noodle or dumpling or protein that would get lost or water logged if added too soon.

Fresh picked corn, still cold from the field, blanched, added to a chowder at the very end....
plllog thanked sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
2 years ago
Dried BEP take only about 20 minutes to cook, I'd think fresh ones would take about as long as fresh field peas or limas - maybe 10 minutes or less?

But yeah - you could simply parboil them before adding to the soup.
plllog thanked carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
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plllog
Original Author
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Thank-you, both! Sleevendog, when I cook dried beans to have cooked beans, I use mirepoix, but hadn't even thought it for the black eyed peas. Thanks so much for the reminder. I just grabbed a couple of handfuls of the chopped veg from the bowl. Carol, thanks for the timing guide. That was really helpful, too. The BEP were delicious just cooked! And in the soup. It came out just right.

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