Cream Peas – Eat Them All

Q: I recently bought a bag of fresh cream peas at the farmers market. The vendor told me to wash and sort before cooking. I am not sure what I should throw out during the “sort.”

A: The peas are all fine to eat, no matter what color they might be. I think the vendor was just using too many words to indicate you should remove trash, which I’m sure you did. The cowpea curculio insect makes small purple “stings” on peas where she lays tiny eggs. While some ultra-fastidious cooks might sort them out, I have eaten a million of them with no ill effect.