My turn: Black-eyed peas make chili sing

I wouldn’t have thought to put black-eyed peas in chili, but my co-worker, Victoria Garrett, does. Her recipe for Black-eyed Pea Chili is modified from a version in the American Profile magazine, and she suggested it for this column.

The recipe is tasty and nicely spicy, and Victoria says it’s easy to make, which is definitely important.

Victoria brings the chili with tortilla chips to office potlucks, and sometimes she feeds it to us without a party. To thank her, we make sure she doesn’t have to haul too much home.

Black-eyed Pea Chili

• 3 cans black-eyed peas

• 1 can black beans

• 1 can diced tomatoes with garlic and olive oil

• 1 can original Rotel tomatoes

• 1/2 pound good-quality sausage

• 1 medium onion, diced

• 2 heaping tablespoons Hatch chili powder

• 1/2-3/4 cup Hatch green chile

Lots of fresh cilantro leaves, torn

Brown the sausage and onion. Drain. Combine all ingredients except cilantro in crock pot. Cook 4 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. Add cilantro 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving.

Makes 3 generous quarts.