Hoppin' John - my version

It seems there are traditions in different sections of the country (and probably the world) that certain foods, if eaten on New Year’s Day, are supposed to bring good luck throughout the coming year. When I was growing up in Houston, and throughout the Southern US, it’s black-eyed peas - in some form or another. One of these is a combination of black-eyed peas and rice called Hoppin' John.

Last week there was a recipe in our paper for a baked version of Hoppin' John. We had plain black-eyed peas and rice last night, but I made the casserole tonight, and it was really good. Here’s my version:

I used dried peas, so they were cooked. And the left-over rice was cooked. Mix together equal parts of cooked, drained black-eyed peas and cooked rice. (I had about three cups of each.)

Crisp cook several pieces of bacon, drain, crumble and set aside. (You vegetarians - and you know who you are - could easily leave the bacon out.) Saute a chopped onion and some garlic in the drippings, drain. I added a chopped pickled jalapeno pepper, too.

Mix all this stuff together with about a cup of grated Monterey Jack or mixed white and yellow cheese. Put into a casserole and top with more grated cheese. Heat at 350* until hot through, and cheese is melted.

This made one casserole that made two meals for the two of us, plus two containers for the freezer of one-meal sizes for the two of us.

This is pretty much an approximation of what was in the paper, but since I rarely follow a recipe specifically, this is my version. I was prepared to throw it out if it was awful, but we really liked it. Give it a try - maybe even with some other kinds of dried beans.