Salada de feijão-frade
A Portuguese summer lunch in a bowl, popular all over the country. Creamy black-eyed peas cooked and dressed while warm with olive oil and vinegar, with tuna, hard-boiled eggs, red onion and plenty of parsley. Black-eyed peas have thin skins and need no soaking, and their mild, nutty flavour stands up to a bold dressing. The salad is as filling as a main meal, travels well and tastes even better after a few hours.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Cooking the peas 60 min
- Eggs 10 min
- Cooling 20 min
- Chopping 10 min
- Resting 15 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneCook the peas
Rinse the peas, cover with about 1.5 litres of cold water, add the bay leaf and simmer gently, unsalted, 45–60 minutes, until tender but still whole. The time depends on how old the peas are. Take off the heat, stir ½ teaspoon of salt into the water and leave 5 minutes.
Ingredients: 200 g dried black-eyed peas · 1 pcs bay leaf · 240 g tuna in olive oil, drained · 3 pcs eggs · 1 pcs red onion · 1 bunch parsley
Tender but whole — start tasting at 40 minutes.Boil the eggs
Meanwhile hard-boil the eggs (10 minutes), cool under cold water and peel.
Ingredients: 200 g dried black-eyed peas · 1 pcs bay leaf · 240 g tuna in olive oil, drained · 3 pcs eggs · 1 pcs red onion · 1 bunch parsley
Dress the peas while warm
Drain the peas, remove the bay leaf and at once toss the peas with 4 tablespoons of the olive oil, the vinegar, crushed garlic, the rest of the salt (1 teaspoon) and pepper. Warm peas absorb the dressing.
Ingredients: 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil · 2 tbsp white wine vinegar · 1 clove garlic · 1½ tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
While warm — the peas drink up the dressing.Cool
Cool the peas to room temperature, about 20 minutes, stirring now and then.
Ingredients: 200 g dried black-eyed peas · 1 pcs bay leaf · 240 g tuna in olive oil, drained · 3 pcs eggs · 1 pcs red onion · 1 bunch parsley
Chop the additions
Finely chop the onion and parsley. Break the tuna into large flakes with a fork and quarter the eggs.
Ingredients: 200 g dried black-eyed peas · 1 pcs bay leaf · 240 g tuna in olive oil, drained · 3 pcs eggs · 1 pcs red onion · 1 bunch parsley
Combine
Fold the onion, parsley and tuna into the peas gently, so the peas do not get crushed.
Ingredients: 200 g dried black-eyed peas · 1 pcs bay leaf · 240 g tuna in olive oil, drained · 3 pcs eggs · 1 pcs red onion · 1 bunch parsley
Gently — the peas should stay whole.Rest
Leave the salad 15 minutes. Taste and, if needed, add a little more vinegar or salt — the salad should be clearly tangy.
Ingredients: 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil · 2 tbsp white wine vinegar · 1 clove garlic · 1½ tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Serve with the eggs
Spoon into a bowl, arrange the egg quarters on top and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Serve with bread.
Ingredients: 200 g dried black-eyed peas · 1 pcs bay leaf · 240 g tuna in olive oil, drained · 3 pcs eggs · 1 pcs red onion · 1 bunch parsley
Before you start
From a can
With 2 cans of black-eyed peas (about 480 g drained) the salad is ready in about half an hour, including boiling the eggs. Rinse and drain the peas and dress them straight away. Use only 1 teaspoon of salt, as canned peas are already salted.
With cod
Instead of tuna, the Portuguese also use salt cod (bacalhau): soaked for 1–2 days in frequently changed water, briefly poached and broken into flakes. In that case add salt to the dressing only after tasting.
Storage
The salad keeps 2 days in the fridge and tastes even better the next day. Take it out half an hour before eating so the set olive oil turns liquid again.
