Vegan Hoppin’ John over Baked Barley

For our New Years Day dinner last night I made a new version of Hoppin’ John, keeping it vegan for a second year. The big change is I served it over baked barley, my first time to try that. The barley is very good tasting, great texture but wow does just a tiny bit fill you up! Rice might have been a better choice but the good thing is the HJ makes so much we have LO’s for lunch today I can serve with rice – yay!

Vegan Hoppin’ John

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups celery, chopped (about 6 stalks trimmed)
• 3 bell peppers, seeded and chopped (I used a red,orange and yellow)
• 1 Tbsp garlic, minced or 3 cloves or 1 Tbsp granulated garlic
• 2 tsp dry Thyme
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• ½ to ¾ tsp liquid smoke
• Tabasco sauce to taste (I used 8 dashes)
• 20 ounce bag black-eyed peas (frozen or thawed)
• 8 cups lower sodium vegetable broth

Directions:

In a large/deep skillet, heat over medium-high heat and add the oil with the vegetables, let cook for about 10 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add everything else, bring to a boil, then turn down to medium and let simmer for 40 minutes, loosely covered. If it is boiling too hard turn down a bit as needed.

Taste for seasoning and add more as desired.

Served over your favorite carb – see below for two methods.

The Hoppin’ John serves about 6 to 8 people.

Baked Barley

Ingredients:

• 1 cup hulled barley (pearled)
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 cups boiling water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°. Add everything to a 8×8″ glass baking dish, cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour.

Makes about 4 servings.

Baked Brown Rice  –

Heat the oven to 375°. Bring 2½ cups water to a boil, add it, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 1½ cups long grain brown rice to 2 quart or 8×8″ glass baking pan, cover with foil tightly and bake for 1 hour.
Makes about 4 cups baked.

~Sarah

Update: For lunch we used the leftovers and made a very tasty repast! I drained the liquid from the LO’s into a large measuring cup to see how much I had, then transferred it all to a large skillet and brought it to a boil. I had a shy 2 cups liquid so I added 1¾ cups instant rice, stirred it in and then covered, turning off the burner. After letting it sit 10 minutes I sprinkled on about 1 cup 2% sharp cheddar cheese and let it melt, then stirred in. This served 3 of us for lunch – with big hearty bowls. Yum!