A day late, here comes this week’s Crock-Pot creation! Tonight, I pulled a favorite page out of my personal dinnertime playbook and put a batch of vegan hoppin’ John to excellent use.
I’ve used this recipe from over at A Year of Slow-Cooking for ages now, and it’s never disappointed! (Obviously, instead of using regular sausage I always use a veg version – tonight’s choice was Tofurky Italian sausage links!) Simply put all of the ingredients – sausage, black-eyed peas, Rotel (or its generic knockoff, as we use), collard greens, salt and pepper, instant rice, and veggie broth – together in a slow cooker, stir it up as best you can, and click it to Low for the better part of the day! (I’ve cooked our hoppin’ John on High for as little as five hours and on Low for as many as 12 with no ill effects!) By the time you get home from work or from a day otherwise carrying on with the business of life, dinner’s ready and waiting. Oh, how I love that about the slow cooker!
Now, A Year of Slow-Cooking blogger Stephanie O’Dea’s recipe calls for you to soak the peas overnight in a container of water, and I must admit I’ve always followed suit. But after yesterday’s little situation, wherein I woke up in the morning only to realize I’d neglected to soak the peas and thus punted the meal to today, I decided to wage a little experiment. What if I didn’t soak the peas first? I often don’t when I’m cooking them on the stovetop. Wouldn’t 10 hours in the Crock-Pot tenderize them up nicely regardless?
So in the dried peas went along with everything else, and I went to the office with crossed fingers, hoping for a successful (and edible) result by the time I got back.
Wonderful news! The black-eyed peas were perfectly soft when I arrived home, hungry for dinner, and the rest of the meal wasn’t any worse for wear as a result. It may have been a touch less “soupy” than it sometimes is, but we didn’t mind that one bit! All of the flavors mingled perfectly and the peas were as perfect as they’d have been if I’d soaked them all night. Hooray for efficiency!
It probably goes without saying that LeeLee and I are both crazy for Cajun and Southern meals, and this hoppin’ John was no exception. We enjoyed two helpings and are only too thrilled to know that we’ve got plenty more for lunch the next few days! I love a recipe that feeds an army – or a couple for a week.
:)