Tex-Mex Hoppin' John
Happy New Year’s Everyone!
So like any Southerner, I have prepared the necessities for the New Year’s meal (while having to take several shortcuts). This year, I find preparation to be a little bit different. Not just because I’m a vegetarian but because I totally forgot to thaw out a ham I had in my freezer. I did not get dried packaged black eyed peas! #foodbloggerfail. I blame the unusual icy/drizzly/mess we are having in Fort Worth right now. That’s the best excuse I’ve got. Speaking of the weather, let me pause with a brief fashion segment.
So there you have it.
So hopefully that gave you enough time to forgive me for using canned beans. I simply made do with what I had on hand while taking a classic dish and serving it up with a twist.
Here’s what I came up with for our New Year's meal:
Shay’s Way: Savory Meatballs on a bed of fluffy rice with Tex-Mex Hoppin’ John, Collard Greens, and Cornbread
Shan’s Plan: Tex-Mex Hoppin’ John Stuffed Bell Peppers with Collard Greens and Gluten Free Cornbread
My lineup of suspects:
I also added a can of diced tomatoes and an additional can of black eyed peas. You’ll learn my inspiration comes halfway through the cooking process.
Cornbread Preparation:
Nothing fancy here- Shay enjoys the classic Jiffy box cornbread mix. I use this brand of cornbread mix consistently.
Meatball Preparation:
I cooked these meatballs in a Crock Pot ahead of time for a Christmas party and froze the remaining. The meatballs are made of three simple ingredients: grape jelly, BBQ sauce, and frozen meatballs. We are a high fructose corn syrup free household so I whisked together equal parts Welch’s Natural Concord Grape Spread (Walmart and Target carry it) along with a spicy honey version of a corn syrup free Kraft BBQ Sauce and poured the mixture over the meatballs before cooking them on high for several hours. I know this mixture sounds odd but all church cookbooks appear to swear by this sort of method. You can’t argue with the church ladies. They know what they’re talking about.
Tex Mex Hoppin’ John
First, I started by heating up my cans of black-eyed peas on the stove. While doing this, I put my trusty rice cooker. I prefer using a stand-alone rice cooker because it creates perfectly cooked rice every time. I used to cook rice on the stove or in a microwaveable rice cooker but the rice would either stick to my pot or overflow in the microwave. Always a mess! Side note: Thank you to my mother-in-law Jeri for passing on this rice cooker! It has been a big life saver!
I sauteed my garlic and onion before pouring in the black eyed peas and can of diced tomatoes. Then, I added my seasonings: salt pepper, cumin, chili powder, oregano. The mixture cooked for about 15-20 minutes before I removed about a cup of the mixture for my bell peppers. After removing what I needed, I added about half a cup of bacon bits to the black eyed pea mixture for Shay. It added a nice hickory flavor but it still doesn’t beat the natural flavoring you get from the ham hock.
About this time, my rice finished cooking. I scooped out a cup of rice and mixed it with my set aside black-eyed pea mixture. Rapidly, I quickly stuffed two bell peppers to the brim and placed them in a 400 degree oven for about twenty minutes. You could also top your peppers with cheese while baking and if you’re feeling really naughty, sprinkle your peppers with some hot sauce right before you serve.
To prepare the collard greens, I simply heated some olive oil in my skillet, sauteed several teaspoons of garlic, and threw in the whole bag of greens. Oh and bacon bits for Shay! I actually haven’t cooked with collard greens before but the bags were 25 cents each at my local supermarket. For that price, I couldn’t turn it down!
So it turns out collard greens are reallllllly bitter! It didn’t bother me so much as I thought but you could either throw a little sugar on the greens or squirt with lemon juice to cut the bitterness. I could have also cooked it longer in some water but we were past the hangry stage at this point.
All in all, I think I came out with two delicious New Year’s fare options. I felt I was a little conservative with the seasonings since I wasn’t really sure how this would turn out. However, I’m looking forward to jazzing up some new dishes that are perfect for winter. You can bet I’ll be breaking out the chili powder (and the bottle of Tums!)
See y’all next time!
Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens,
Shan
Please note, I provided links to several products throughout my post. These are not paid endorsements and I am not affiliated with these companies.
So like any Southerner, I have prepared the necessities for the New Year’s meal (while having to take several shortcuts). This year, I find preparation to be a little bit different. Not just because I’m a vegetarian but because I totally forgot to thaw out a ham I had in my freezer. I did not get dried packaged black eyed peas! #foodbloggerfail. I blame the unusual icy/drizzly/mess we are having in Fort Worth right now. That’s the best excuse I’ve got. Speaking of the weather, let me pause with a brief fashion segment.
Here’s what I came up with for our New Year's meal:
Shay’s Way: Savory Meatballs on a bed of fluffy rice with Tex-Mex Hoppin’ John, Collard Greens, and Cornbread
Shan’s Plan: Tex-Mex Hoppin’ John Stuffed Bell Peppers with Collard Greens and Gluten Free Cornbread
My lineup of suspects:
Cornbread Preparation:
Nothing fancy here- Shay enjoys the classic Jiffy box cornbread mix. I use this brand of cornbread mix consistently.
Meatball Preparation:
I cooked these meatballs in a Crock Pot ahead of time for a Christmas party and froze the remaining. The meatballs are made of three simple ingredients: grape jelly, BBQ sauce, and frozen meatballs. We are a high fructose corn syrup free household so I whisked together equal parts Welch’s Natural Concord Grape Spread (Walmart and Target carry it) along with a spicy honey version of a corn syrup free Kraft BBQ Sauce and poured the mixture over the meatballs before cooking them on high for several hours. I know this mixture sounds odd but all church cookbooks appear to swear by this sort of method. You can’t argue with the church ladies. They know what they’re talking about.
Tex Mex Hoppin’ John
- 3 cans black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
- 1 medium diced onion**
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- Olive oil or your choice of oil 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp oregano Salt and pepper to taste ½ cup bacon bits (or a ham hock) for Shay’s Way
- 1-2 cups of cooked rice (for Shan’s Plan and to have on the side for Shay’s Way)
- 2 bell peppers (for Shan’s Plan)
First, I started by heating up my cans of black-eyed peas on the stove. While doing this, I put my trusty rice cooker. I prefer using a stand-alone rice cooker because it creates perfectly cooked rice every time. I used to cook rice on the stove or in a microwaveable rice cooker but the rice would either stick to my pot or overflow in the microwave. Always a mess! Side note: Thank you to my mother-in-law Jeri for passing on this rice cooker! It has been a big life saver!
I sauteed my garlic and onion before pouring in the black eyed peas and can of diced tomatoes. Then, I added my seasonings: salt pepper, cumin, chili powder, oregano. The mixture cooked for about 15-20 minutes before I removed about a cup of the mixture for my bell peppers. After removing what I needed, I added about half a cup of bacon bits to the black eyed pea mixture for Shay. It added a nice hickory flavor but it still doesn’t beat the natural flavoring you get from the ham hock.
About this time, my rice finished cooking. I scooped out a cup of rice and mixed it with my set aside black-eyed pea mixture. Rapidly, I quickly stuffed two bell peppers to the brim and placed them in a 400 degree oven for about twenty minutes. You could also top your peppers with cheese while baking and if you’re feeling really naughty, sprinkle your peppers with some hot sauce right before you serve.
To prepare the collard greens, I simply heated some olive oil in my skillet, sauteed several teaspoons of garlic, and threw in the whole bag of greens. Oh and bacon bits for Shay! I actually haven’t cooked with collard greens before but the bags were 25 cents each at my local supermarket. For that price, I couldn’t turn it down!
So it turns out collard greens are reallllllly bitter! It didn’t bother me so much as I thought but you could either throw a little sugar on the greens or squirt with lemon juice to cut the bitterness. I could have also cooked it longer in some water but we were past the hangry stage at this point.
All in all, I think I came out with two delicious New Year’s fare options. I felt I was a little conservative with the seasonings since I wasn’t really sure how this would turn out. However, I’m looking forward to jazzing up some new dishes that are perfect for winter. You can bet I’ll be breaking out the chili powder (and the bottle of Tums!)
See y’all next time!
Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens,
Shan
Please note, I provided links to several products throughout my post. These are not paid endorsements and I am not affiliated with these companies.
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