Last weekend, I went into cooking overload. It must have been all the eating out and lack of kitchen time starting to come back out. Some of the recipes were quick and easy, and some where a little more time-consuming. But they were all fun 😉
This one was inspired by a local vegetarian restaurant. Hoppin’ Johns are a southern dish with greens, but they are usually cooked like most southern vegetables – with bacon, pork, or lard. Yikes!
The version I had was vegan and delicious, so I decided to try to recreate it at home.
Very similar, and very good. The key ingredient is liquid smoke – it gives it that southern, smoky, meaty flavor without any of them.
Plus it really is a meal in a bowl: greens, black-eyed peas, brown rice, and veggies.
Hoppin Johns:
This makes a mega-ton of servings. I froze some and still had plenty of leftovers for a couple lunches during the week.
2 cups uncooked Black-eyed peas
1 onion, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
2 cups turnip greens (I used a southern blend), chopped (I used a blender to chop mine)
2 servings brown rice
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 small yellow bell peppers, chopped
1 package tempeh maple bacon, chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup veggie broth
1/4 cup liquid smoke
2 tbsp molasses
2 tsp blackening seasoning
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 avocado
Soak black-eyed peas in warm water for 1 hour. Drain and rinse. Cook in a large pot (I used a dutch oven) with 5-6 cups of water. Cook for 45 minutes.
Make brown rice according to the directions.
In a large sauce pan, add olive oil and heat on medium high. Saute onions, green onions, garlic, and pepper. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent. Add rice and black-eyed peas. Stir in spices, molasses, liquid smoke, tomato paste and veggie broth (as needed). Add in tempeh bacon and turnip greens. Turn on low heat to let it all simmer and blend together for about 15 minutes.
Serve in a large bowl and top with avocado slices.
It’s a comforting southern style meal turned healthy!
Peace and love,
Jessi
