Black Eye Pea Salad سلطة اللوبية

Black eye peas are some of my favourite legumes! They have such a unique and delicious taste and are perfect for both winter and summer preperations.  I love a good black eye pea stew in the fall or winter but today I've got a delicious and easy summer salad that is perfect for a picnic, a nice change for the regular bean salads.

3 cups dry black eye peas (rinse and soak in plenty of water overnight) 

3 ripe summer tomatoes

3 persian cucumbers

1/2 red onion

Juice of 1 lemon

Black pepper (no salt here as the beans will be salty enough after cooking) 

 A big drizzle of good olive oil (I used a Spanish olive oil from Olive That!) 

- After soaking your black eye peas the night before drain the water and add them to a large pot, cover with plenty more fresh water and bring to a low boil.  Simmer on medium low until beans are almost tender.  Add more water if necessary to top off the pot and add salt in the last 30-40 minutes of cooking.

Once tender (they shouldn't be mushy or falling apart)  drain and set aside (they should taste great and not overly salty, if they are just rinse a bit)

Bring a kettle of water to a boil.

With a sharp paring knife make an X in the bottom of each tomato and set them in a strainer in the sink.
When the kettle water is boiled slowly pour the water over all the tomatoes. 

Wait a couple of seconds and at this point the tomato peels would be easy to peel.  Peel and core the tomatoes and remove the inside (seedy parts and discard) 

Chop the tomato in small cubes and set in the salad bowl.

Chop the cucumbers into similar dice as the tomatoes and add into the bowl.
Chop the red onion finely and add.

Add the beans to the bowl and season with black pepper.
Squeeze the lemon juice over and drizzle with olive oil.

Serve and enjoy!