In some Southern homes, it wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve without Hoppin’ John, a dish featuring black-eyed peas, which are believed to bring good luck in the coming year.
2(15-ounce) cans black eyed peas(drained and rinsed)
½cupless-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper(to taste)
2scallions(trimmed and sliced; plus more to serve if desired)
½cuproughly chopped flat leaf parsley(plus more to serve if desired)
3cupshot cooked white or brown rice
Instructions
Heat the oil. Saute the onion, pepper, and celery until softened and golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and the ham and cook, stirring often, until you can smell the garlic about 1 minute more.
Add the drained black-eyed peas and the broth and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the scallions and parsley.
You can either combine it with the rice in a mixing bowl or serve the black-eyed peas over the hot rice. Sprinkle with the additional chopped scallions or flat-leaf parsley if desired.
Notes
This recipe is all about ease of execution. For starters, it calls for canned black-eyed beans. Not fresh, not dried and cooked, not even frozen. Canned, rinsed, and drained. And I used chopped cooked ham. Not a ham hock, not fatback, not a ham bone, but chopped cooked ham, which may or may not come from a deli counter. I definitely have made this when I’ve had a leftover ham bone in the house, but I cannot pretend that’s a regular occurrence.