A hot bean dip made with blackeye peas, cheese, andouille sausage, tomatoes, onion and chopped pickled jalapeno in a cream cheese and sour cream base.

Cheesy Hot Black-eyed Pea Dip

When you say Black-eyed Pea Dip, most folks think about Texas Caviar, or what I call Southern Caviar because all across the south, we tend to have our own versions, like my Mississippi Style Texas Caviar. It's a type of bean salsa, usually made using some form of an Italian dressing as a base.

This is not that.

This is more of a basic bean dip but made with black-eye peas instead of the more often used pintos or white beans.

Sausage and Sweet Potato Soup with Black-eyed Peas

A beef broth and tomato based soup made with smoked sausage, sweet potatoes, blackeye peas and cabbage.

Sausage and Sweet Potato Soup with Blackeye Peas

This fantastic soup was inspired by a recipe I saw while flipping through an old cookbook of mine, Is It Soup Yet? - A Cookbook for Soup Lovers. Actually it's a 1998 cookbook and not really all that old, but I guess in terms of a cookbook, it's practically vintage these days.

When I saw the combination of sweet potatoes with sausage in a soup, I have to say I was intrigued. Y'all already know I am pretty much a soup kinda gal anyway, but I have to say I absolutely adored this one. It will definitely be one for the regular rotation of favorite soups in my kitchen. The smoked sausage, sweet potato and black-eyed peas really are a fantastic combination of complimentary flavors I think you'll love.