New Year's Hoppin' John

So, I'm a little late posting this, as it's a new year's day recipe, but it's yummy for any time of year! Here's Abby enjoying her share!

Hoppin' John (vegetarian)
This is a mish-mash of a recipe in the Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant cookbook and a recipe by James McNair in the book Beans and Grains that I found on the internet somewhere. Make it your own by adding or taking out what you’d like from this.
Categories: Entree Vegetable
Yield: 6 Servings
3 cup Blackeyed peas; frozen, I used 1, 20 oz. bag frozen
1tablespoon Peanut oil; plus
Vegetable cooking spray; as needed
1 ½cup Chopped yellow onion
1cup Chopped celery
1cup Red and green bell peppers; chopped
1 tablespoon Minced garlic
1 tablespoon Fresh thyme leaves (I omitted)
1 Bay leaf
1 Pinch Ground allspice
1 Pinch cayenne
1 1/2 Tablespoon Tamari soy sauce
1 cup Long-grain white rice (I used 3 cups cooked, brown rice)
2 cup Chopped tomato; peeled and seeded or one can fire roasted tomatoes, chopped
Salt and black pepper
Bottled Louisiana-style hot sauce (I used Tabasco)
¾ cup Chopped green onions; including tops
½ cup Italian parsley; chopped
Sour cream and grated smoked cheddar cheese to taste

Traditional New Year's good luck dish of the American Southern States has 4 ounces of sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2 wide pieces. (1/4" dice if using slab bacon with its rind removed). Brown, crisp, drain on paper toweling. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat and use it to sauté onion etc. McNair's touch: white rice cooked in broth; diced red and/or green peppers. The crisp bacon would be crumbled and used as a garnish. You could always use veggie bacon or soy bacon bits, but I just omitted this part and used roasted tomatoes with the hope of adding in some sort of smoky flavor.

• In a heavy saucepan over medium-high, add oil and onion. Stir to coat onion.
• When hot enough to saute, add celery and bell peppers. Saute until the vegetables are soft, about 5 mins.
• Add cooking spray or a little water if necessary to prevent browning.
• Stir in the peas, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and just enough water (broth) to cover barely. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, partially covered, until the peas are tender but still hold their shape, 15 to 25 minutes.
  
• Meanwhile, cook the rice (white or brown).TIP: Brown rice may be cooked in water with a piece of lemon peel (dime-sized).
• Stir tomato into peas and simmer uncovered, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the rice, season to taste with salt and generous amount of ground pepper and hot sauce, and heat through, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in most of the green onion and chopped parsley. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with parsley sprigs and serve hot.
  

You can also just serve the pea mixture over rice and put the green onion, parsley, sour cream and cheese at the table for people to serve themselves. Yummy.

I served this with a side of local kale. Collards would be more authentically southern, but any greens go very well with this dish.