Serves 6
Total time: 45 minutes || Active time: 45 minutes
I am soooo looking forward to the new year. 2012 was one of those that had me screaming “DO OVER!” Still, I know I have a lot to be grateful for and of course December 31st is the perfect time to reflect on that: family, friends, my home, my cats (ok maybe it was hard not to put “cats” first.) But whether or not the year rocked or sucked, it’s always nice to have a clean slate. And a clean kitchen. So let’s start the year off right, with some black eyed peas!
If you only make beans from scratch once a year, definitely make it New Year’s and definitely make them black-eyed peas. Of course, it’s said that these little legumes bring prosperity when eaten on the New Year, a little Southern custom that’s thought to have Jewish roots as well. But let’s leave the origin arguments to the discussion page on Wikipedia, and get down to what matters…the recipe!
Traditional Hoppin’ John is made with ham hock, but in this vegan version we’ll be using “ham mock” or “sham hock,” or whatever vegan pun you prefer, it’s just a little liquid smoke and bay leaves. Since I’m not really content with a few beans over rice, let’s turn the bean around and prepare a full-on bowl. Lots and lots of steamed greens, red rice and smoky beans, smothered in a sauce that keeps up the Southern Jewish theme; a simple concoction of tahini and Frank’s Red Hot! This stuff is irresistible: spicy, nutty, savory, tangy, garlicky bliss. And to cool things down, a little tomato parsley salad is a welcome burst of freshness. This bowl will definitely start the year off right!
From my kitchen to yours, HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL! Here is to a fabulously prosperous 2013, glowing with peace, love and plenty of tahini.
Notes
~Tahini can vary in liquid from brand to brand. Some are very fluid and others are stiff and chunky. I prefer to use the more liquidy brands. Don’t be surprised if you have to add up to 1/2 cup of extra liquid when making the sauce, depending on the kind of tahini you have.
~Collards are probably the most fitting green to serve here, but the ones at my local Whole Foods were looking kind of sad, so I went with beautiful lacinto kale. Collards take about 7 to 10 minutes to steam, and kale only about 5. Simply discard the rough stems, tear leaves into large pieces, place in your steamer, and flip every few minutes using tongs, while checking for doneness. I like a little snap left in my greens, and consider them done when they’re a bright Godzilla green.
~You can definitely make everything but the greens and tomatoes in advance, if you like! The beans taste even better if they have time to absorb the smoke and seasoning overnight and the sauce keeps well in the fridge in a tightly sealed container.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup dried black eyed peas, soaked in water overnight
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon saltFor the Red Hot Tahini:
1/2 cup tahini
1/3 cup Louisiana Hot Sauce (like Frank’s Red Hot)
1/4 cup water (plus more as needed)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 clove garlic
For the Tomato Parsley Salad:
2 cups diced tomatoes
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley
1 cup finely sliced green onion
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Several dashes fresh black pepper
Dash salt
Also:
1 pound steamed greens (I used lacinto kale, see note)
6 cups cooked rice for serving (I used red rice)
Directions
Make the Hoppin’ John:Drain the soaked beans, and place them in a 4 quart pot. Submerge in water, with water coming about 2 inches above the beans. Add bay leaves, salt and liquid smoke. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring the heat down low, and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Check often so that they don’t overcook. When beans are still firm, turn the heat off and uncover. Let them hang out until everything else is ready. They will continue to cook in the hot water, so turning the heat off ensures that they don’t overcook.
Make the Red Hot Tahini:
Simply blend everything up in a little blender until smooth. A Magic Bullet works perfectly. Add water by the tablespoon to thin as needed. Taste for salt and spiciness.
Make the Tomato Parsley Salad:
Toss all ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. Taste for pepper and vinegar.
Assemble:
Place greens and rice side by side in a large bowl. Top with black-eyed peas. Drizzle with sauce and top with the tomato salad. Serve immediately and prosper!
Oh man. I want that RIGHT. NOW.
Booyah! Here’s to a year of beans and greens, my favourite. 🙂
Looks great! Happy New Year! 🙂
Brilliant, as usual.
Please tell me what brands are more liquidy?! I’ve only used one brand and it is chunky. I thought they were all that way. It drive me crazy to try to mix it up!!
Frank’s is yankee hot sauce 🙂 I’m going to try it with Crystal or Tabasco
Oh, this looks perfect! It will be made soon for sure. Never would have thought of tahini and Frank’s –that’s a seriously cool combo.
Yeah, after years of pouring Frank’s on after the tahini I finally decided to take the plunge and combine them legitimately. You won’t be disappointed!
I’ve been so obsessed with tahini lately, and I love that it’s spicy! The tomato parsley salad sounds so refreshing, too. Looks like a great new year’s dish!
I love black eyed peas! This looks like a great New Year’s recipe, thanks so much for sharing.
mmmm! I’ve been loving rice bowls with tahini sauce and sriracha lately so this is right up my alley!! Thanks Isaaa <3
It’s on! I’m ridiculously excited about this. Move over tofu Marsala. I’m in the mood for some beans and greens 🙂
I’ve been a vegan for a little over a year and I must thank over and over again. My daughter, a vegetarian for years, gave me several of your books, and you taught my to really enjoy eating this way. And your cookies saved me many times over! What you do really makes a difference.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I wish you the happiest and most blessed of New Years!
Jim
Looks lush, I LOVE black eyed beans! Tahini…mmmm…. And kale is the best! x
Mmm looks awesome!
I grew up with Black Eyed Peas and Ham on New Year’s Day (my grandparents were from Louisiana), and the last few years I’ve really missed the simplicity and good wishes of this kind of traditional celebratory meal. Thank you SO much for publishing this– I think I know what I’ll be eating tomorrow.
I hate to say I HATE any food ingredient, because it seems so narrow and limiting. But seriously, i loathe parsley. Like even the tiniest bit. Do you think it’d be weird if i replaced with cilantro? I mean, I’ll eat anything with cilantro on it.
Of course not, cilantro would be great!
As I picked up a pack of black-eyed peas in the kitchen this morning, I also wondered how to make them interesting for the New Year’s repast. Everything about this recipe is right–big thanks! Bonne année et bonne santé!
Can’t wait to make your version. I have my own vegan version but this is more dressed up and interesting and I like it! My family does pork and sauerkraut on January 1, so I’m taking homemade seitan but this here recipe of yours is officially on deck after that! Thanks, Isa! Happy New Year.
Oh Hot Dang! I am totally making this for our New Year’s Dinner! As always, Isa, it looks amazing and inspired. Thank you for the HUGE contribution you make to the vegan world. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you too, Isa. You make my life better. Thank you!
Franks’s + Tahini = Genius. Happy New Year!
Already made the beans and have been picking at them all afternoon…yum! Can’t wait for the entire combo tomorrow. The tahini/hot sauce combo sounds ridiculous!
Isa, you are truly one of God’s gifts to the world, and I’m truly grateful to know you through your brilliant work. I would love to be your next door neighbor, but I would probably be gettin’ me self arrested for stalking or something stupid….but all kidding aside…..thank you for all you do. I really mean that, and I’m wishing your 2013 will be all you want. Happy New Year, Isa and Isa’s followers…Happy New Year to all and to all a good night…………
Wow those are some very kind words! Thank you and Happy New Year, to you!
Just made the beans and can’t stop eating the red hot tahini sauce- who would know but Isa that it would be such a great combo! Isa thank you for all your great recipes.
It’s addictive!
We have always thought about making black eyed peas and greens on New Year’s Eve but I wasn’t sure if I liked black eyed peas. Saw this recipe this morning and my husband and I decided to try it. I’m not usually one to comment but I had to tell you how much we LOVED it. Honestly delicious. Thanks!
Was a great (and NEW) idea for the traditional black eyes this Hogmanay.
I made what I could tonight to minimize cooking for tomorrow. And I cannot stop eating the red hot tahini sauce by the spoonful. I’m going to have to make more and lock it up somewhere.
Absolutely delish!!! My sister and I made it this afternoon with some minor adjustments for what we had in the kitchen and… oh my god. Incredible. Isa never lets us down!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This was just what I wanted to cook, and since it’s your recipe, I know that it will be wonderful.
Had this for dinner last night and lunch today! Didn’t feel like waiting for rice to cook for the lunch version, so served the other ingredients over leftover mashed potatoes. Delicious.
Sounds like a delicious compromise.
Footnote: I used collard greens, and a little cilantro along with the parsley, in the tomato salad. With the chili sauce-enriched tahini sauce, a gorgeous meal was had by all! Thanks again.
The sauce is fabulous! Everybody [9 years to 82] loved it.
Thank you and Happy New Year Isa!
was planning on some type of black eyed peas/greens concoction for NYD and was so happy to see this. I thought it it was delicious, got a lot of compliments on it and it went fast. i think i may have to make it again this week.
emmmm….had to use canned black eyed peas (oh the shame….but the grocery store was out of dried–was all of boston preparing to make this dish?? i think yes!) but still so,so yummy.
is it just me or do other people feel like they need some extra luck and cash in 2013? thanks, isa and happy new year to all the PPKers!
It was wonderful! I made this today instead of our traditional mix. THANK YOU!! The mix of flavors is so complicated, but each is still discernible. Bravo!
Wow – this is the BEST Hoppin John I’ve ever made. You really hit it out of the ballpark with this one! Thank you!
You are my new hero! I’m new to veganism, making a slow transition from 2+ yrs of being a semi-vegetarian, and it is recipes like this that really get me excited about being a vegan. The flavours are electrifying! My notes: used bok choy for steamed greens (YUM!), cilantro instead of parsley (my Texan taste-buds took over!), and brown rice – my fear of ending up with yet another pot of mushy rice led me to this http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/04/how-to-make-perfect-brown-rice-every.html and the results were FANTASTIC. HAPPY NEW YEAR and thank you SO much!
Awesome, sounds like you learned a lot for this recipe!
OUT OF THIS WORLD. Thank you~!
that Hot Tahini is outta this world!
Yeah, I have some leftover that I’m basically treating like liquid gold, which is so silly since it’s easy enough to make another batch.
What a yummy start to the new year. Thank you! Even my notoriously picky son loved this. The sauce is killer.
I made this on new years for a friend who was visting from America and he and I really liked it! Sadly we don’t have frank’s red hot in Sweden so I subbed with taco sauce. I don’t know how Frank’s supposed to taste but it turned out good!
This was divine!
so, 2012 was “annus horribilis” as the Queen likes to say…well, wishing you a great new year and lots of chances for “do over.” Am enjoying your butternut alfredo and thinking of you: in the words of the late, great Louis Armstrong, “you’ve got swing.”
Tried this with Tofutti soy sour cream instead of tahini since my daughter is allergic to sesame. It was still quite delicious.
I made a version of this tonight, just dumped the greens in with tomatoes, liquid smoke, and black eyed peas, then made the sauce to drizzle on top. I went with mustard greens. So delicious! We just omitted the rice and made it more of a stew.
WOW just made this and it. was. amazing. thank you so much for making such delicious vegan food – I love that I can make your recipes for everyone (including my meat-loving hubby) and they love them. You have the best tastebuds ever! Happy New Year!
This was delicious! I’ve been making Hoppin’ John annually for New Years, and the Red Hot Tahini sauce really took the dish to a new level. Used a Vitamix blender and ended up adding double the recommended amount of water to make the sauce a little drippy. Thanks for sharing, Isa!
happy new year to you too! (umm, I thought it was taken for granted that cats come first…) Thanks for all you do, you make the world shine a little brighter. Hope 2013 is a fab year for you! hugs!
You are sweet, thank you!