Hoppin’ John

I don’t make the traditional hoppin’ John, as I flavour it with roasted garlic (see the previous post), but this close enough. Basically, you cook black-eyed peas and rice together, and that’s all there is to the traditional African-American New Year’s meal. It is a tasty, healthy dish. You can add spinach to get some extra nutrition or other vegetables. You can serve it as a side dish or just eat this as it is.

You can buy legumes in tins or else dried. Then you soak them overnight, which is cheaper and healthier, as the tinned versions tend to have a lot of salt. If you use tinned, wash the legumes off.

Ingredients:
rice (I use brown, which is healthier)
water
black-eyed peas (1 tin or buy dried legumes and soak them overnight)
1 clove roasted garlic
1 tsp parsley
50 g spinach

Instructions:
1. Wash and boil the rice in the water according to the directions. About halfway through (10-15 minutes), add the peas.
2. Add as much of the garlic as you want. I used five cloves, but if you’re a real garlic-lover (or you’re not kissing anyone later), you can use the whole head. Save any cloves you don’t use for another day.
3. Add the parsley and spinach. Continue cooking for another 5 or so minutes.
4. Serve.