I use most of mine as dry beans... which get used in recipes for black eyed peas, or hoppin' John. Look those two up, you will find a lot of variations online.

You can eat them as shelly beans, some are better for this than others. Some have stubborn clinging membranes, and some are too small to make them worthwhile unless you have a mechanical sheller. Most of the best shelling varieties have (relatively) large seeds, and pods which unzip easily.

You can eat the young pods as snaps, but again, some varieties are better suited for this than others. Asian yardlong beans are just cowpeas bred to be used as snaps.

Since I began growing cowpeas, I have been surprised how many can be grown successfully in Northern climates. They love heat, but given that, go from flower to seed much more quickly than Phaseolus beans. I have been harvesting dry seed from one variety for two weeks, and harvest should be complete before the end of August. Chances are good that the plants will put on new growth, and a second harvest, before cool weather puts an and to them.

If I catch them in time, I like all my cowpeas as shellies. My favorite is Pinkeye Purple Hull (Top Pick variety). I cook them the same way you would cook blackeye peas.

Thanks for the comments - very helpful. Tried cooking some of the Italian variety (look like black eyed peas) as shellies for dinner last night and although on the small side, they were fairly easy to shell and quite tasty. Tried a raw one in the garden and it had an unpleasant taste, will cook a few, you never know. There are tons of pods on the plants and best to begin eating them now if possible.

Zeedman, a few pods are browning up and it looks like I will be harvesting them dry quite soon. We had almost 2 months of fierce drought but the rains have come and it's getting too wet. Checked northern Wisconsin and see you could be as much as 4 degrees north of us.

Toronto is just south of my latitude... so chances are that any cowpea which does well for me would do well in southern Ontario.

"Tried cooking some of the Italian variety (look like black eyed peas)..."

Would
that by any chance be Fagiolino Dolico Veneto? Seeds slightly smaller
that store-bought black eyed peas, but with the same coloration. That
variety is early, and very productive. I didn't like the pods in snap
stage, though.

Can't remember if we traded in the past? I have
several cowpeas with short DTM's that might interest you. All are
true bush varieties, so they don't waste time growing vines. PM sent.

Cornetti Friulani is the name given by my Italian friend. She thinks very highly of these beans and now I know why. Talk about productive!