Full of flavor and easy to prepare, fresh black-eye peas are a staple in the South and a treasured find at summer farmers’ markets. This easy and versatile recipe works its magic in minutes and transforms these tasty morsels into a guaranteed crowd-pleasing side dish. 

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh black-eye peas shelled
• 3/4 cups chicken stock
• 1 smoked ham hock
• 1/2 cup minced sweet onion Vidalia if possible
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Procedure

1. Add olive oil to Instant Pot set to sauté. Once the pan is hot, add the onion and cook for about six minutes or until it is tender and translucent.
2. Add the peas, the ham hock, salt, pepper, and chicken stock.
3. Press Manual or Pressure Cooker button (depending on your model) and use the arrows to select 9 minutes.
4. It should take about 5-7 minutes to come to pressure. Might be a bit less depending on your model.
5. Once the Instant Pot beeps that the 9 minutes of cooking are done, do a natural pressure release for 15 minutes! It means that you just leave your Instant Pot without touching it for 15 minutes, it will count up.
6. Once 15 minutes of natural pressure release are done, do a quick release. This will take another minute or so.
7. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Variations

To change things up a bit, consider adding or substituting the following ingredients:

• Add a handful of chopped kale or collards.
• A can of Rotel or fire-roasted tomatoes adds great flavor and more veggies. 
• Swap out the chicken stock for vegetable stock.
• Add a cup of chopped leftover ham.
• Cook a few slices of bacon, remove from the pan, and drain.  Cook the onion in bacon grease instead of the olive oil. Before serving the peas, top with the crumbled bacon. 
• Add a cup or so of chopped up smoked sausage. 
• In addition to the onion, feel free to add any or all of these vegetables: celery, green pepper, carrots, or jalapeno peppers.  
• You can substitute salt pork, pork belly, a ham bone, or even the meat from a smoked turkey leg or neck for the ham hock. 
• Add a few bay leaves when the peas are cooking, and remove them before serving. 
• Throw in some sliced okra.

As you can see, the possibilities are endless.