Delicious Black-Eyed Pea Dip for New Year's

Last night for New Year's dinner, we had a bunch of fun appetizers to feel a little festive for the holiday. The girls rounded their dinners out with a Boca (veggie) burger for my eldest and a hot dog for my little one. I was not sure if they would like any of the things I was making for my husband and I, and as it turns out, one appetizer was a HUGE hit with the girls! I have always heard that it's tradition to eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day to bring luck in the coming year -- I thought, who couldn't use more luck, why not give it a try! I only discovered black-eyed peas this past summer when I started making this great corn/bean salsa recipe that a friend of mine gave me. I could have made that again, but on The Pioneer Woman's website, I found a recipe for a hot bean dip using black-eyed peas, so I thought I'd try it out.

This is the Pioneer Woman's sister-in-law's recipe, which you can find on her website. I made a couple of slight adjustments in the hope that my children would give it a try. They loved it -- especially my little 5-year-old! She started eating it with tortilla chips and eventually gave that up for a fork! I told my husband that we'll have to make this again and we could even put some in a flour tortilla and roll it up for bean burritos!

"Zannie's Black-Eyed Pea Dip" from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

1 can (14-ounce) Can Black-eyed Peas
1/4 whole Onion, Chopped Fine --- I used less onion than this
1/4 cup Sour Cream
8 slices Jarred Jalapenos --- I skipped these for the kids
1 cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
3 Tablespoons Salsa
Hot Sauce, to taste --- I used some Frank's Red Hot
Salt And Black Pepper To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain black-eyed peas and partially mash, leaving some whole. Add all other ingredients, stirring to combine. Spread into a 1 1/2 quart baking dish and bake for 20 to 30 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Serve with tortilla chips!

*Note: if you have them available, you can use the canned black-eyed peas and jalapenos (they're canned together.) If you do this, you can omit the extra jalapenos.

Enjoy!