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Hoppin’ John with Kale has black-eyed peas and kale cooked with ham hocks and vegetables until tender. Serve over rice with bacon and scallions on top.
Hoppin’ John is a traditional dish from the Southern region of the United States and it has African, French and Caribbean roots. (The blog What’s Cooking America does a great job explaining the vast history of this dish and you can read more about that right here.)
While Hoppin’ John is typically made with black eyed peas, ham hocks or bacon, and collard greens, my husband Jack grew up with a version of the recipe that had a heavy Portuguese influence! Instead of ham hocks – spicier linguica or chourico was used, and rather than collard greens – kale was added.
So our delicious version of Hoppin’ John with Kale is a combination of the traditional and the Portuguese versions. We stayed true to the original by cooking the black eyed peas with ham hocks, but we incorporated kale into the finished dish rather than the traditional collard greens!
Once the black eyed peas and kale are cooked to a tender consistency, we served this Hoppin’ John with Kale over rice and topped it with a sprinkle of crispy bacon for some texture and scallions for a bright, fresh contrast of flavors.
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Hoppin’ John with Kale
Hoppin’ John with Kale has black-eyed peas and kale cooked with ham hocks and vegetables until tender. Serve over rice with bacon and scallions on top.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound black eyed peas (or field peas)
- 4 cups cold water
- 1/2 pound thick cut smoked bacon, diced into half inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1–1 1/2 pounds ham hocks
- 1/2 cup celery diced
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1/4 cup green bell pepper diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 quart vegetable or chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dry thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 8 cups kale, removed from stems and roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 cups cooked white rice
- 2–3 tablespoons minced scallions
Instructions
- The night before, soak black eyed peas in cold water overnight at room temperature.
- The following day, drain peas and discard water.
- In a medium pot over medium heat, place bacon and cook until crisp. Remove to a paper towel to drain. Reserve two tablespoons of bacon fat in pan and add oil. Increase heat to medium high and add ham hocks. Sear on all sides and remove, about 15 minutes.
- Add celery, onion and green pepper and cook for three minutes. Add garlic and cook for one more minute.
- Add ham hocks back in along with stock, soaked peas, bay leaf, thyme, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes covered or until peas are almost tender but still a little bit chewy.
- While peas are cooking, cook rice according to package directions and set aside. (1 cup rice to two cups water).
- Add chopped kale to pot with peas and cook for 10 minutes covered.
- Remove ham hocks and bay leaf and discard.
- Strain out solids and cook liquid down to one cup, about 10 more minutes. Turn off burner and add butter. Stir to dissolve. Add solids back in and stir to combine.
- To serve, place mixture over rice and top with cooked bacon and scallions.
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Notes
Note: The dry peas are soaked overnight in this recipe so leave yourself enough time.
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Turkey Kielbasa and Baby Kale Strata
Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Kale and Boursin Cheese
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