Hoppin' John

There was a time after J was born that I was not doing well at all. We were living at our pastor's house and they were helping me recuperate. Tina and Andy love down home Southern cooking and are from there so we enjoyed a lot of great meals she made. One of the meals we liked was called Hoppin' John. I had never heard of it before, but even though it had an odd name it was really good. It's just a basic dish with black-eyed peas and rice with a few other ingredients thrown in. One morning this past week, I woke up having dreams about Hoppin John so I got my friend's recipe. This is something you can keep the ingredients in your pantry and have when you want something quick but nutritious, and tasty.


Ingredients:
2 cups rice
2 cans Black Eyed Peas (look for "seasoned with bacon" on the can)
1 green pepper
1 T minced garlic
Few splashes olive oil or grease from bacon
1/4 cup vegetable broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Several stalks of celery
Shredded cheddar or your preferred cheese
Few slices of Bacon (optional)



Instructions:

• Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat (you can use your bacon grease instead of the olive oil if you are using bacon in your recipe).
• Add green pepper, celery and garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes.
• Drain and stir in black-eyed peas, broth, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and cook for 10 more minutes.
• Season with anything you prefer like garlic salt and a splash of hot sauce
  
• Cook rice. Spoon pea mixture over rice and sprinkle with cheese.
  

ENJOY!

My friend enjoys serving this with some corn bread on the side.

Picture credit to Vegan Planet.