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Texas Caviar Recipe

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photo: Christina Mitchell

photo: Christina Mitchell

Afro-Vegan is a beautiful cookbook by Bryant Terry, who lives in Oakland with his family.  The photographs are stunning and the African textile prints really add a lot of color.  His mission is “to move Afro-diasporic food from the margins to the center” and I think his book was a great first step.  Countries throughout the diaspora have been represented and their recipes have been reimagined and reinterpreted with Bryant’s touch.

The (Cook)Book Club chose Afro-Vegan for our last potluck.  It was a tasty lunch, featuring recipes from Bryant Terry’s cookbooks: Sauteed Sugar Snap Peas with Spring Herbs, Shredded Beet, Apple and Currant Salad and Strawberry Watermelon Salad with Basil Cayenne Syrup.  We agreed that some of the recipes we tried were over complicated, but the results were delicious.

Have you ever tried Texas Caviar?  It’s kind of like a black eyed pea salad, traditionally served with tortilla chips.  I made my version of Bryant’s Texas Caviar for the potluck, leaving out two or three steps and swapping a few ingredients in order to simplify the process (I didn’t want to wash any extra dishes).  It turned out to be fresh and flavorful, especially with an extra drizzle of olive oil.

Texas Caviar

(adapted from Afro-Vegan)

1 bag of frozen black eyed peas

1 tomato, diced

1 jalapeno, diced (ribs and seeds removed)

1 red pepper, diced

½ red onion, diced

juice of 2 lemons

a couple drizzles of olive oil

a couple garlic cloves, peeled

handful of cilantro, roughly chopped

handful of parsley, roughly chopped

about ½ loaf of wheat levain, sliced

Boil peas for about 45 minutes.  Drizzle bread with with salt, pepper, olive oil.  Toast, then rub with garlic cloves and set aside. Drain peas and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Add salt and pepper, adjust seasoning, then let flavors get acquainted in the fridge for an hour. Top a piece toast with a spoonful of Texas Caviar and an extra drizzle of olive oil.  It’s kind of hard to eat, so don’t worry if you make a mess.  Go for it!

Christina Mitchell

Christina Mitchell

Christina is the founder of East Bay Dish. Her writing has also been featured in East Bay Express, Berkeleyside, Oakland Magazine and Edible East Bay.
Christina Mitchell

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