Hoppin' John


6 slices bacon
2 cups water
1 16-ounce package frozen black-eyed peas
1 cup rice
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Place 2 layers of paper towels on the counter next to the stove. Separate the bacon strips and place them side by side in a skillet.

Turn the heat to medium high. Have an adult help you cook the bacon until the edges start to curl. Use tongs to turn each slice to the other side. Continue cooking, turning the slices frequently.

If you use turkey bacon, like I did, follow its package directions instead of the ones in the recipe. I did not, and it started to get like woah burned. 


When the bacon is golden brown and crisp, lift it out of the skillet and put it on the paper towels to cool and drain. Save the bacon drippings in the skillet.

I ended up needing four layers of paper towel - just to be safe.


Measure the water into a saucepan. Turn the heat to high.

When the water boils, or bubbles rapidly, have an adult help you add the black-eyed peas and rice to the water. Stir well.

Stir in the salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings.

Let the water come to a boil again. Then turn the heat down to low.

Cover the saucepan and cook the Hoppin’ John about 20 to 25 minutes, until the black-eyed peas and rice are tender. The water should be absorbed into the mixture.

At this point, I was freaked out that I was going to spend the rest of the week eating nothing but black-eyed peas. 


Crumble the bacon with your fingers and stir it into the rice and black-eyed peas.

But with the bacon added, suddenly everything's ok. 



Spoon the Hoppin’ John into a bowl and serve.

A nice little meal for a nice little evening in.

My Rating: 3/5 "It's filling in a really great way - you're satisfied, but you're not all stuffed and bloated and uncomfortable afterward. The bacon adds nice pizzazz to the rice and peas. The recipe makes a lot and it's cheap, so it's nice economy food, and it keeps well in the fridge. I started to get sick of it after a couple of rounds of leftovers, but I then I put ketchup on it after I heated it up and that made things better."

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