Hoppin' John, a Southern New Year Tradition

Hoppin' John is a Southern dish often eaten on New Year's Day for good luck. Corn bread is a traditional accompaniment. Below you will find 2 versions, feel free to experiment and let us know which you prefer. Take a few minutes while you are on-line and look up the fun stories about Hoppin’ John, a true American tradition. Happy New Year.

Hoppin' John with Mustard Greens

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 1/3 cups)
2 cups water
2 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
2/3 cup finely chopped ham
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups cooked black-eyed peas (can use canned or frozen, rinsed and drained)*
*Read the labels to know how much to buy to get your 4 cups
4 cups chopped trimmed mustard greens (you can find frozen* mustard greens or substitute spinach for *Frozen 10 oz packages yields 1 cup well drained

Combine first 4 ingredients, stirring with a whisk; set aside.
Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; sauté 6 minutes. Add rice, ham, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in water mixture; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Add peas and greens; cover and cook 5 minutes. Stir rice mixture; cover and cook an additional 5 minutes or until greens and rice are tender.

CALORIES 389 (16% from fat); FAT 7g (sat 1.4g,mono 4.1g,poly 1g); IRON 5.1mg; CHOLESTEROL 14mg; CALCIUM 109mg; CARBOHYDRATE 63.6g; SODIUM 502mg; PROTEIN 18.2g; FIBER 11g
Adapted from: Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2007

Variations on a theme

Skinny Hoppin’ John

Yield: 4 servings

2 15 oz cans black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 14 oz or 15 ½ oz can can diced tomatoes, drained, for added zip, use tomato with chiles
2 scallions, white and green parts, finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely diced
½ cup white onion, finely chopped
1 serrano chile*, finely chopped
*Serrano chiles have a heat scale of 3 with 1 being mild and 5 blowing your head off, so if you like mild, use mild canned green chiles, a 4 oz can
½ tsp salt
Ground black pepper to taste
1 tsp lime juice, more or less to taste
2 cups wild pecan rice or brown rice, cooked and served hot**

In a large pot, add drained peas, tomatoes, scallions, celery, onion, chile and ½ tsp salt. Simmer 25 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Mix in lime juice and season to taste with pepper.
Serve over rice.
May be served as a side dish without rice**

CALORIES 287, FAT 2g (less than 1 gram saturated fat); CARBOHYDRATE 57g; SODIUM 532mg; PROTEIN 14g; FIBER 8g