These vegan, gluten-free black-eyed peas in coconut milk are so good that we want to eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! And so will you! We spend so much time scouring cookbooks and websites that are specifically gluten-free and vegan, that we forget that there are so many cookbooks out there that contain recipes that are happily gluten-free and vegan naturally. This can be especially true with recipes for cuisines which are not native to our home country.

This was recently brought home to us, again, as we were scouring one of our Brazilian cookbooks, Brazil: A Culinary Journey, and came across a recipe for Black-eyed peas in coconut milk, also known as “coconut beans”, or, as it is traditionally called, feijao de coco. Feijao de coco is a blended side dish, meaning that once the beans are cooked they are pureed with the other ingredients, and served as a side dish.

We always keep a few cans of coconut milk on hand, so we decided to whip this up on a whim. It did not disappoint! Warm and hearty, this was a perfect dish for a rainy or snowy day. We hope you enjoy it as much as did we! A word of warning: you will want to soak the black-eyed peas the night before, or morning of, the meal at which you plan to enjoy them. That said, you can also used canned beans, and you can use beans other than black-eyed peas, such as pinto or navy beans!

Gluten Free, Vegan Black-Eyed Peas in Coconut Milk (Feijao de Coco)

Ingredients

1 pound Black-Eyed Peas, soaked for several hours
1 bay leaf
2 Tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, minced
1 cup coconut milk
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
sea salt to Taste

Directions

Cover the black-eyed peas with water and soak for at least 6 hours, or overnight. After they are done soaking drain the black-eyed peas, removing any that may have floated to the top (these beans are bad because they are so dried out that they were unable to absorb any water, they will not be nice and plump and tasty if you try to cook them). Place the peas in a pot, cover them with fresh cold water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat, cover, and cook for 1½ to 2 hours or until tender. Let cool. Drain the peas and place in a blender or food processor. Blend until the peas form a purée. Return to the pot and add the olive oil, garlic, onion, coconut milk, green onions, cilantro, and salt, stirring until the mixture returns to a boil. Serve hot.