Hoppin’ John is a southern U.S. dish adopted from West African culture. Black-eyed peas are the trademark ingredient of this dish, which is traditionally eaten on January 1st to bring good luck in the New Year. In this version I use fennel and collard greens, and top it with an avocado dressing.
Hoppin’ John with Avocado-Cucumber Dressing
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 small fennel bulb (or 2 ribs celery), chopped
- 6 medium white or crimini mushrooms, chopped
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 15-ounce cans black-eyed peas, rinsed (or 3 cups)
- 2 green onions (scallions), chopped
- ½ cup loosely packed parsley leaves, roughly chopped
- 6 med-large collard green leaves cut into bite-sized pieces
- Optional: 2-3 cups cooked brown rice
Instructions
- Using water as needed, sauté the onion, bell pepper, celery or fennel, and mushrooms on medium-high for 5-8 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, thyme, basil and cumin and sauté another minute, adding a little more water so that the herbs and spices evenly coat the vegetables.
- Add in the black-eyed peas, green onions, parsley and collard greens, and cook until the collards are softened, about 5 minutes. Serve over brown rice, topped with the Avocado-Cucumber dressing below.
Notes
Herbs: This recipe is versatile when it comes to herbs and spices, so have fun with it. This is an older recipe, and I see I have garnished (in my photos) with fresh dill even though it's not in the recipe; who knows why. 😉 Chopped green onions or parsley make a nice garnish as well.
Avocado-Cucumber Dressing
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup water
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 1 medium ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
- ½ teaspoon granulated garlic
- ½ cucumber (including seeds), chopped
- ½ cup roughly chopped raw spinach
- 1 green onion (scallion), chopped
Instructions
- Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add water as needed to thin.
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Just made this last night. I added about 1/2 cup of tomatoes w/chilies & didn’t have collards, so I left them out. Also, I added a bit more parsley plus some cilantro, and served it over a brown rice/quinoa medley. Delicous! The avocado cream is to die for!
My partner and I made this dish yesterday for our New Years Day dinner. It was my first time having collard greens as well as black eyed peas and I really enjoyed this dish! My favorite part was the avocado dressing – it was incredibly tasty and just had such a fresh taste. It was simple prep and cook and I definately will recommend it to friends and family!
Thanks Stephanie! 😉