I've been looking for pomegranate molasses/syrup for a long time to make tabbouleh (kısır). Finally I found a Lebanese one in an international market. Pomegranate syrup is an essential ingredient in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking. It's delicious as a salad dressing ingredient as well as a base for marinade. Now that I found it I'll use it more, but first I used it on black-eyed pea which both as a dish and as a salad is very common in the Aegean coast of Turkey.
2 cups fresh black-eyed peas
1 big onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red pepper, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
1 bunch dill, chopped
1 tbsp sumac
1 tbsp dried mint flakes
1 tsp sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp pomegranate molasses/syrup or lemon juice
-Wash fresh black-eyed peas and boil them in 4-5 cups of water for 5 minutes. Drain and wash well.
-Mix all the ingredients except for pomegranate molasses in a broad pot. Bring to a boil and then on low cover and cook until peas soak water (approximately 30 minutes)
-Dress to your taste with pomegranate syrup before serving. It will give it a really nice sweet and sour flavor. If you cannot find pomegranate syrup, you use lemon juice.
If you want to have your black-eyed peas as a salad, all you need to do is to cook the peas until soft and wash them well. Skip sugar and onion from ingredients, instead add 1 bunch chopped green onions. Mix everything well in a bowl and dress with either pomegranate syrup or lemon juice.
This recipe with parsley and dill (my favorites) is perfect for Weekend Herb Blogging which was founded by Kalyn and is hosted by Scott of Real Epicurean this weekend.
