Eat More Plants: Warm Black-Eyed Peas Medley

By Anat Rose-Atlas, Dietetic Intern

This delicious and nutritious dish features black-eyed peas and a medley of warm spices. It’s a hearty meal that combines the earthy flavors of black-eyed peas with the comforting aroma of cinnamon, cumin, and turmeric. Packed with protein, fiber, and anti-inflammatory nutrients, it’s the perfect choice for nourishing your body, warming your soul, and boosting your immunity. It could work well as a wholesome main course or a flavorful side dish, guaranteed to satisfy your palate while maintaining your health and wellness goals.

Ingredient Highlights:

Black-Eyed Peas: Legumes are a key component of many healthy diets. They are not only very nutritious but also have demonstrated potential in preventing and managing various health conditions, including chronic diseases [i].

Onions: Onions are a great source of dietary fiber and many vital micronutrients. They can potentially help with many conditions, such as inflammation, cancer, and diabetes [ii].

Garlic: Garlic, known for its potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, has demonstrated excellent health benefits, including preventing and improving various health issues like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and diabetes [iii].

Celery: Celery possesses strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients. Apigenin, a natural compound found in celery, has numerous therapeutic functions for many diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, and cancer [iv].

Cinnamon – It’s not just a delicious spice that enhances the flavor of both savory and sweet dishes; it also contains compounds with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and anticancer properties [v].

Turmeric – Multiple studies have demonstrated that this vibrant yellow spice possesses both preventive and therapeutic properties, serving as a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, antimicrobial, and anticancer component [vi].

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cans of no-added salt black eyed peas
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 3 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp. crushed black pepper
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tbsp avocado oil

Instructions:

1. Heat a pan over a medium flame. Once pan is hot, add 1 tbsp of oil.
2. Saute onions until clear, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
3. Add garlic and celery and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring half-way through.
4. Add the remaining tbsp of avocado oil, cover pan, lower heat and let cook for about 10-15 minutes.
5. Add black-eyed peas to the pan, along with spices and stir well.
6. Serve warm, add a dash of avocado oil if desired, garnish with cilantro if you’d like, serve with tahini on the side, or eat it as is!

Notes

• This recipe makes 4 servings.
• Keep refrigerated in an air-tight container for up to 4-5 days.
• This recipe indicates using canned black-eyed peas for a convenient and time-saving option. Alternatively, you can choose the more cost-effective route of using dried beans, although it requires more time and preparation. To use dried black-eyed peas, soak 1 cup overnight and cook them for approximately 1.5 hours until tender but not mushy, ideally retaining some texture. Soaking minimizes GI side effects and reduces cooking time.

References:

[i] Mullins, A. P., & Arjmandi, B. H. (2021). Health Benefits of Plant-Based Nutrition: Focus on Beans in Cardiometabolic Diseases. Nutrients, 13(2), 519. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13020519

[ii] Chakraborty, A. J., Uddin, T. M., Matin Zidan, B. M. R., Mitra, S., Das, R., Nainu, F., Dhama, K., Roy, A., Hossain, M. J., Khusro, A., & Emran, T. B. (2022). Allium cepa: A Treasure of Bioactive Phytochemicals with Prospective Health Benefits. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2022, 4586318. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/4586318

[iii] Ansary, J., Forbes-Hernández, T. Y., Gil, E., Cianciosi, D., Zhang, J., Elexpuru-Zabaleta, M., Simal-Gandara, J., Giampieri, F., & Battino, M. (2020). Potential Health Benefit of Garlic Based on Human Intervention Studies: A Brief Overview. Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland), 9(7), 619. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox9070619

[iv] Yan, J., Yang, X., He, L., Huang, Z., Zhu, M., Fan, L., Li, H., Wu, L., Yu, L., & Zhu, W. (2022). Comprehensive Quality and Bioactive Constituent Analysis of Celery Juice Made from Different Cultivars. Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 11(18), 2719. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11182719

[v] Rao, P. V., & Gan, S. H. (2014). Cinnamon: a multifaceted medicinal plant. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2014, 642942. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/642942[vi] Prasad S, Aggarwal BB. Turmeric, the Golden Spice: From Traditional Medicine to Modern Medicine. In: Benzie IFF, Wachtel-Galor S, editors. Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. 2nd edition. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press/Taylor & Francis; 2011. Chapter 13. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92752/