Happy New Year!

Credit: Annas Mat

New Year's dish: Hoppin' John. Modified this recipe: Ring in the new year with Hoppin' John from Whole Foods Market! A recipe sheet I picked up in the Whole Foods Market.

I also followed this famous Swedish chef Kajsa Varg's quote: Man tager vad man haver. This means that you take what you have.

I was inspired by a few recipes of Hoppin' John on the internet - one called for bacon, etc. Instead of using a ham hock, I decided to use organic Canadian bacon that was close to its expiration date. I put some olive oil in a stock pot (which I use for pasta, etc.), seared the Canadian bacon, diced the bacon, added the onion, green pepper, garlic and cooked for several minutes. I then added Lundberg's wild rice mix, frozen black-eyed peas, stock, bay leaves, thyme & seasonings and brought to a boil. I then reduced the heat and let it simmer for at least 40 minutes until the peas were creamy & tender and the rice was cooked through. I added kale in the last few minutes of cooking so that the kale would be wilted and steamed.

I then served this up into bowls. I thought it could use some parmesan cheese, so I added some parmesan cheese. I also think that it needs mushrooms. Maybe next time. Or next year.

Happy New Year!

Original recipe: Hoppin' John - serves 8-10

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large ham hock
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• 1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
• 1 tbs chopped garlic
• 1 lb black-eyed peas
• 1 quart chicken stock
• Bay leaf
• 1 tsp dry thyme leaves
• salt, black pepper & cayenne
• 3 tbsp finely chopped green onion
• 3 cups steamed white rice

Credit: Whole Foods Market

My recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 package Canadian bacon
• 1 cup onion, chopped (I used Kroger brand frozen recipe starters)
• 1 cup green peppers, chopped (I used Kroger brand frozen recipe starters)
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic (I used a garlic press to mince 4 cloves of garlic)
• 1 lb black-eyed peas (I used Kroger brand frozen black-eyed peas - 1 12 oz package + 1/2 cup black-eyed peas from a second package)
• 1 quart chicken stock (Whole Foods organic low sodium)
• Bay leaf
• 1 tsp dry thyme leaves
• salt, black pepper (I forgot the cayenne!)
• 2 cups Lundberg's wild rice mix (mmm!)
• 1 head kale, stems removed, leaves cut into dices
• Optional: parmesan cheese, mushrooms

Hope this brings me (and you) luck for the new year!