Black-Eyed Pea Salad

1. Place beans in a large pot. Sort through the beans and remove any foreign material (i.e. pebbles, poor quality beans etc.) Add enough water to cover beans by about 3 inches. Soak overnight at room temperature.
2. In a large bowl add champagne and malt vinegars, olive oil, 1 1/2 teaspoon tarragon, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add bell peppers, scallions, garlic and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

COOK THE BLACK EYED PEAS:

1. You can cook the black eyed peas two ways, In a heavy stock pot or dutch oven or in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot. I've made it both ways and they take about the same amount of time (because the pressure cooker takes time to come to full pressure and release pressure). That said, I think the Instant pot is gentler on the beans than cooking on the stovetop.

FOR STOVETOP:

1. Drain the peas. Add bacon, stock, water and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until beans are tender. Remove bay leaves and bacon, discard.

FOR INSTANT POT:

1. Drain the black eyed peas and transfer to the Instant Pot. Add bacon, stock, water and bay leaves. Set the instant pot to high presure for 10 minutes.
2. You can do a quick release on the beans or let the pressure reduce naturally.

ASSEMBLE THE SALAD:

1. Drain the black eyed peas in a colander. Add beans to the pepper vinaigrette. Toss to combine. Rest for 30 minutes. Mix in the lemon zest and remaining thyme and tarragon as well as the mint. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve.