Peas Please and Mixed Herb Pesto

Some of the black eye peas\snaps fresh from the Farmers Market

Hmm . . . what to make with all the garden and fresh farmer market goodies? Checking recipes I found two I thought you might enjoy. Fresh black eye peas from the Farmers Market will work nicely in this tasty dish.

There were many recipes online about cooking and flavoring them. Since this recipe called for cooked fresh and I was going to add lots of goodies with this recipe, I put them in a saucepan, covered them in water, brought them to a boil then reduced them to a low heat. I covered them and let them simmer till peas were soft when pierced with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes than drained them.
  
OZARK CAVIER

• 4 cups cooked fresh, frozen, dried or canned black-eyed peas (Fresh the best)
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions 
• 1/2 cup diced purple onion 
• 1 large, dead ripe, home grown tomato
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced 
• 3/4 cup olive oil or hemp seed oil
• 1/4 cup Braggs® Organic Red Cider Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano
• 1 teaspoon fresh sweet basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Combine ingredients and marinate for at least six hours in the refrigerator, stirring occasionally. Drain the peas and serve chilled. Recipe Developed by The Ozark Unit of the Herb Society of America.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Notes and recipe from Master Gardener, Dorothy Ann Earley - Here is a recipe for mixed herb pesto. I particularly like this rendition of the time honored condiment because I can harvest a variety of herbs from my garden and it gives me an excuse to cut back my mint.

MIXED HERB PESTO

• 1 cup basil
• ½ cup oregano
• ½ cup mint
• ½ cup pine nuts
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• ½ cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 teaspoon salt

Place basil, oregano, mint, pine nuts, olive oil, garlic and lemon juice in a blender or food processor and run it on high until all ingredients are finely pureed. Remove from blender or food processor and add parmesan cheese and salt. Mix well. Serve with pasta.

I believe the real secret to great pesto, is not just fresh sweet basil, but a really fine parmesan cheese. Grate it yourself just before you need it. And it doesn’t hurt if you use the best olive oil you can find either.