Black-Eyed Pea Salad

Here, for Joan and anyone else who might be interested, is the salad I made for last night's picnic by the river. It's very good. I adapted this recipe from the Low-Fat Living Cookbook, by Leslie L. Cooper.

BLACK-EYED PEA SALAD

2 16-ounce cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1/2 sweet red pepper. chopped
1 carrot, shredded
1 4-ounce can chopped green chilies
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley*
2 Tblsp. chopped fresh basil or cilantro**
1/4 cup lime juice
2 Tbslp. olive oil
1 or 2 tsp. dried minced onion***
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. cumin
Salt & pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine the black-eyed peas, rep pepper, carrot, chili peppers, and basil or cilantro. Toss to mix.

In a jar, place the lime juice, olive oil, minced onion, garlic, and cumin. Cover jar; shake vigorously. Pour dressing over salad and toss again to mix. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Yield: 6 servings

* I didn’t have this so left it out. It would probably be great, though.

** Didn’t have fresh herbs so substituted 2 tsp. dried basil.

*** Recipe calls for 1 red onion, sliced, to be tossed with the other veggies. I don’t care for raw onion in salads, so chose to do it this way.

This is a tasty salad with a definite Southwestern edge to the flavor from the chiles, cumin and lime juice. And, an added advantage -- it has over 7 grams of fiber per serving!