Hoppin' John: it's never too late to prosper.

This dish is traditionally served on New Years Day to bring you prosperity for the year to come.
I am a little late making it this year but it was so good, I wanted to post about it anyway.
Genna first posted my original recipe in her food blog.
This is a newer version that I made up as I went along, so the measurements are my best guesses, oops ;-) It is usually made with the rice and beans combined, this version is made of the beans poured over the rice, I like it better this way. And this can easily be made into a vegan dish !!

The Latest Hoppin' John

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup dried black eyed peas *
1 onion chopped
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
4-5 strips of bacon
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 cups chopped mushrooms
3 cup veggie broth
2-3 chopped green onions for garnish

1 1/2 cup uncooked rice

1) Wash, sort and soak the black eyed peas overnight.
2) Rinse and place in a pot with 2-3 cup water, bring to a boil and start the cooking process.

3) While the beans are cooking, cut the strips of bacon into 1-2 inches pieces and fry in a large pot.

4) While the bacon is cooking, chop one onion into medium size pieces. Chop the parsley.

5) Add the onions, smoked paprika and parsley once the bacon begins to brown a little.

6) Slice and chop the mushrooms.

7) The onions should begin to brown before you add the mushrooms. Don't worry if the bottom of the pan starts to darken, that's good stuff down there and it will deglaze later. Just keep stirring.

8) Once the mushrooms have cooked, add a cup of the veggie broth to deglaze the bottom of the pot, scrap the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon or metal spatula to loosen all that brown goodness.

9) Add the rest of the broth.

10) Drain the peas, saving the liquid. Add the peas to the pot and allow to simmer for another 30 minutes or so. You want the peas to be soupy, add more liquid if need be. Check the peas for tenderness.

11) Cook the rice however you usually would.

12) Taste the black eyed peas and add salt and pepper to taste.

13) Serve over the rice and garnish with parsley or chopped green onions.

Traditionally this dish is served with cooked greens of some kind, we used beet greens.

Vegan Hoppin' John

Use olive oil in place of the bacon for cooking the onions, parsley and mushrooms.
Add 1 teaspoon liquid smoke at step # 10 when everything is in the pot cooking together.

* Note: If you don't want to use dried beans you can substitute two 15 oz. cans of cooked black eyed peas. Skip steps # 1 and 2.

May this dish bring your prosperity in the year to come, or at least good health !!