We hadn’t eaten black-eyed peas for a while, so the peas and rice did taste extra delicious. Anni commented how the taste of the black-eyed peas combine the sweetness of chickpeas and the flouryness of regular beans. I think that’s an apt description!

Here’s what I used:

• 2,5 dl dried black-eyed peas
• a piece of kombu
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• about 2 teaspoons of cumin
• about 1,5 teaspoons of coriander
• 2 chipotles in adobo sauce, finely chopped
• 2 dl tomato sauce, passata style
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

About two hours before I started to cook, I quick soaked the peas: I rinsed them, put them in a bowl filled with boiling water, and covered the bowl. (Obviously, they could’ve been soaked overnight too, but since I forgot to do it, I had to quick soak them.) Then, two hours later, I began with boiling the black-eyed peas. I threw soaking water away, put the peas in a kettle over low heat, added the kombu and plenty of boiling water.

While the peas were simmering, I prepared the sauce. First, I put a frying pan over medium high heat, added the onion, and fried it until quite brownish. I kept stirring the onion a lot so that it wouldn’t burn. Then I added the garlic, cumin, coriander and the chipotle, and fried them about half a minute, stirring continuously. I poured the tomato sauce in the pan, stirred, lowered the heat, and waited until the black-eyed peas were done. I drained the peas, removed the kombu, and added the peas into the frying pan. I mixed the sauce and the beans, added the salt, and checked the taste.

I think this amount would be enough as a side dish for 2-3. The quality of carrots really does make a difference here – I used a bunch of organic carrots that still had a nice protective layer of dirt on them when they reached us. Root vegetables keep better and stay much more flavorful if they’re not cleaned after harvesting, but unfortunately the supermarkets rarely carry “dirty” veggies.

The chipotle I used in this recipe is the adobado kind. Heikki mashed a can of chipotles in adobo sauce when he made the black beans from Veganomicon, and we still have some of the paste in the fridge. Chipotles are amazing in their depth of flavor, but I’m sure these fries would turn out well with other spices if they are hard to find.

The Carrots:

• 4 large carrots, scrubbed and cut into sticks
• 2 teaspoons mashed chipotles in adobo sauce
• salt to taste
• a dash of olive oil to coat

I cut the carrot into thin fry-size sticks and then tossed them with the chipotle and the olive oil. There’s no need to use much oil, just enough to coat the carrots. Then I spread the carrot sticks on a baking sheet in one layer, and sprinkled them with salt. I baked my carrots in 200 degrees Celsius on the upper rack of the oven: first for 35 minutes, then tossed them around, and then another 10-15 minutes until slightly charred here and there.

The Avocado Dip:

• 1 ripe avocado
• 3/4 dl plain soy yogurt
• pinch of salt
• pinch of sugar
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped

I simply mashed everything together with a fork and chilled while the carrots were baking.

This is what we used for the peas:

• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons tomato purée
• 4 teaspoons chipotle paste (Santa Maria brand, 34% chipotle)
• 11 dl water
• 5 dl dried black-eyed peas
• ½ teaspoon barley starch mixed with ½ dl water
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 dl oat cream
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2-3 tablespoons chopped frozen cilantro (coriander leaves)

In the afternoon, Anni poured boiling water over the black-eyed peas, and let them soak for about 3 hours. If you’re not using a pressure cooker, just soak the peas overnight in cold water. Pre-soaking isn’t necessary when cooking with pressure, but it makes the pulses much easier to digest.

We started by chopping the bell pepper and onions, and crushed the garlic. We put the pressure cooker over medium high heat, and heated the olive oil in it. First, we added the onions and garlic, and fried them for a few minutes. Then we added the chopped bell pepper, and continued frying for a couple of minutes more. Now it was time to add the ground coriander, tomato purée and chipotle paste, and fry the mixture for two or three minutes, stirring all the time with a wooden spatula.

Next, we added the oregano, vegetable stock powder, and the water, which we had heated in the water cooker first. Now, we sealed the pressure cooker. We cooked the stew in low pressure for 11 minutes. (Our pressure cooker has only two pressure settings, high, and low – I don’t know if they are all like that.) Now, we lowered the pressure, opened the cooker, and added the salt, sugar, and oat cream, then closed the cooker, and brought the pressure up again, and cooked for 5 more minutes. Once more, it was time to lower the pressure, and open the cooker.

The last step was to thicken the stew by pouring in the barley starch mixed in water, stirring it in, and bringing the stew to boil for a few minutes. Before serving, Anni mixed in the frozen cilantro, and mashed a small portion of the peas with a fork. We ate the black-eyed pea stew with jasmine rice and a side of grated carrot, and squeezed some lime juice on top of the serving.

Since we’re slightly paranoid about not burning the food in the pressure cooker, we used plenty of water in the dish. To get a thicker consistency, one could use slightly less water, maybe 8-9 dl, but taste-wise the proportions were quite balanced: the delicate aroma of the peas was nicely contrasted by the earthy fieriness of the chipotle paste.

It’s pretty hard to find smoked chipotle chilis in Helsinki, in fact I’ve never seen them, so I just used a cheap Pirkka-brand sauce called “Meksikolainen kastike (The Mexican Sauce) – salsa chilpotle”. It is actually imported from Mexico, and is pretty chipotley, but I guess real chipotle chilis would make the chili even better – and add a lot of heat!

On Sunday, I baked a seitan log, crumbled it in an electric shredder, and stored the crumbles in the fridge for future use. Now, I could just measure out 2 dl of crumbled seitan to make this chili. In case there’s no seitan log in sight, textured soy protein bits would be a good substitute.

Chipotle Seitan and Bean Chili:

• 500 g tomato sauce (or crushed tomatoes)
• 2 dl crumbled seitan log
• 380 g package cooked mixed beans, rinsed well
• 2 red onions, finely cubed
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2-3 tablespoons salsa chipotle
• 1 tablespoon wheat flour

First, I fried the onion and the garlic on medium heat until they had softened, for about 10 minutes. Then I added the rest of the ingredients except wheat flour to the pan, and stirred until the sauce started bubbling. I covered the pan and let it simmer for about half an hour.

Now, I tasted the sauce and adjusted the saltiness, and then sprinkled the wheat flour over the pan. Flour thickens the sauce, which makes filling the tortillas easier. I stirred the chili with a wooden fork until all of the flour was incorporated, and kept on stirring until it started to bubble again. Now, I set the temperature on low heat, covered the pan, and let it a brew up for an hour or so, until it was dinner time. I garnished the chili with frozen parsley, but chopped cilantro would have been even better.

Cumin Yogurt Sauce:

• 2 dl plain unsweetened soy yogurt
• 1 green bell pepper, finely cubed
• 1 big clove garlic, pressed or finely grated
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (jeera)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• freshly ground black pepper
• finely sliced red onion for garnishing purposes

First I took aside a teaspoonful of green bell pepper cubes for garnish. Then I mixed everything up, and garnished with the onion slices and bell pepper cubes. Now, I refrigerated the yogurt sauce for 30 minutes or so.

Then we filled our soft corn tortillas with a pile of seitan stew, yogurt sauce, and cubed cucumbers. This recipe makes enough to fill 8 tortillas.