Bean salads tend to be a weekly affair, and here is another one of my regulars: sardines and black-eyed peas salad. The recipe is here. The addition of celery adds crunch. The capers add tang. I have also previously substituted the sardines with tuna, anchovies, and canned herring, depending on what’s available in the pantry.
Granted if canned fish is not your thing, this salad is not for you. My roommate does not like canned fish, but forces herself to eat a wee-tiny piece of canned herring when the clocks strike midnight on new years. Apparently, it’s a Scandinavian superstition. Maybe I should make this for her as a good luck salad come 2016. She would probably prefer it over eating canned herring straight up.
The black-eyed peas would also add some extra luck if you believe in the Southern superstition. According to food librarian Sarah Bir, two physical properties of black-eyed peas symbolize good things to come: (1) the promise of germination when planted, and (2) increasing significantly in size when cooked.
Note, black-eyed peas are not actually peas. They are beans. I love their natural smoky flavor, and you can also do this with them, too:
