Black-Eyed Peas with Coconut Milk and Ethiopian Spices

This is absolutely delicious! I almost didn’t make it because I didn’t want to buy another spice (berbere) I might not ever use again, but I’m glad I did and I’ll definitely be making this again! It smelled so amazing while cooking, I couldn’t wait to try it!

We first made this superstitiously on New Year's Eve some time ago, and it was such a huge hit that it has become part of our repertoire. It comes together pretty quickly, especially if you cook the peas in the Instant Pot, and the flavors are just incredible. Definitely one of those sneaky and satisfying vegetarian dishes where carnivores won't miss the meat one bit. It has even converted my hubby who used to "hate" black-eyed peas. We typically make the recipe exactly as written except for the habanero, as our Berbere mix (from Whole Foods) is quite spicy. A splash of lime and a dollop of yogurt are nice as toppings.

I did this dish in a slightly different order and added three different things: 1) I started with the garlic, ginger, chile, onion combination but added cumin seeds. After 5 mins I add the black eyed peas and water and stock let that boil and them simmer (I pre-soaked the beans overnight) Meanwhile I sliced and roasted an eggplant in the oven (for about 20 mins or so until the slices where brown but still soft). Then I added the tomatoes and other spices, and let simmer another 5 mins - then added the roasted eggplant. After that I added about 100g of spinach - just to have even more iron in this dish. I added the coconut a little more toward the end. For serving along with the cilantro, I had the option for freshly squeezed lime juice, which gave it a great zest. It was a wonderful dish. Thanks very much. I am keeping this one in my recipe book!