Enough With The Hoppin' John!

At the beginning of this year, I confessed that I was not going to cook Hoppin' John for New Year's Day.  You can read my perfectly good reasons here.

This is what we ended up with.  Ham, biscuits and black eyed pea salad.  

Well, land's sake's alive, I haven't heard the end of it.  Not only the comments on this site, but  I also received emails, phone calls and even a recipe in the snail mail from my friend Rachel, all telling me I must not be cooking it right, or I hadn't tried their recipe, or I must be sick in the head, or else I would be in the kitchen cooking Hoppin' John RIGHT NOW!

Well, I wanted to show you what I ended up cooking for New Year's Day and prove to you I would never totally forgo Black Eyed Peas on January 1st.  I was raised right, you know.

What evolved from the pot o'peas, was a lighter, fresher salad version.

It was much better received by my family than the usual John-who-hops.

And as far as the original, bonafide Hoppin' John recipe?  Well, I guess I did miss it a little bit.  Maybe I'll start a new tradition and pull out Rachel's recipe for Groundhog's Day.  (Hoppin' Hog??)

But no matter what, I thank you all deeply for your kind concern.

Fairhope Supply Co. Black Eyed Pea Salad

Ingredients
3 cups cooked black eyed peas
1 chopped onion
2 stalks chopped celery
1 chopped bell pepper
1 cup corn
1/2 cup English peas (This isn't in the normal ingredients list, but I throw English peas in everything)
1 chopped tomato
1 handful chopped fresh parsley

Mix together and toss with dressing:

Dressing
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cider vinegar
3 teaspoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons honey
salt and pepper to taste

Best if made the day before and kept in the refrigerator overnight.




You can find this recipe with other great ideas on Coastal Charm, From My Front Porch to Yours, Savvy Southern Style, Primp Junktion, The Dedicated House, Cedar Hill Ranch, Mockingbird Hill Cottage, Southern Lovely and Stone Gable.