Hoppin’ John

This Vegetarian Hoppin’ John is made without the traditional ham hocks

  • 4 medium bell peppers, parboiled, then chopped into chunks
  • 1 lb. black eyed peas, cooked (prepare like other crock pot bean recipes such as black beans or pinto beans)
  • 1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped fine
  • 4 cups cooked white or brown rice
  • 3-4 celery stalks, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 can Rotel chunky tomatoes and chilies
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 3/4 teaspoon dried cumin
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 green onions – cut the green tops only into small circles to garnish the top of the dish

Cut the stem ends off the peppers and reach in with your fingers to pull out the seeds and membranes.  The good thing about bell peppers is that they are really mild and have only a few seeds.  Drop the hollow bell peppers into a large pot of boiling water and cook 5 minutes.  This is known as parboiling and it helps tenderize a vegetable so that it absorbs flavor more easily, or so that it can be cooked more rapidly with other ingredients that “get done” faster than the raw vegetable.

Remove the parboiled peppers with tongs or pour the boiling water into a deep sink, through a colander that will catch the peppers.  Let the peppers cool a bit while you saute the onion, garlic and celery in a non-stick skillet sprayed with Pam.  Saute the vegetables until the edges of the onions begin to turn brown. If you cooked your rice the day before, warm it in the microwave for 5 minutes and add to the skillet with the Rotel tomatoes. Chop the peppers into chunks and add with all the spices and salt to the sizzling vegetables in the skillet.  Mix well and continue to saute.  If you cooked your black-eyed peas earlier in the week, warm them in the microwave for 3 minutes and add to the rest of the vegetables in the skillet.  Simmer everything for 5 more minutes, while you stir to keep the starchy rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan – even in a non-stick skillet.

Scatter the chopped green onions over the top of the vegetables and serve straight from the skillet.