Serves 6
Total time: 45 minutes || Active time: 45 minutes
I am soooo looking forward to the new year. 2012 was one of those that had me screaming “DO OVER!” Still, I know I have a lot to be grateful for and of course December 31st is the perfect time to reflect on that: family, friends, my home, my cats (ok maybe it was hard not to put “cats” first.) But whether or not the year rocked or sucked, it’s always nice to have a clean slate. And a clean kitchen. So let’s start the year off right, with some black eyed peas!
If you only make beans from scratch once a year, definitely make it New Year’s and definitely make them black-eyed peas. Of course, it’s said that these little legumes bring prosperity when eaten on the New Year, a little Southern custom that’s thought to have Jewish roots as well. But let’s leave the origin arguments to the discussion page on Wikipedia, and get down to what matters…the recipe!
Traditional Hoppin’ John is made with ham hock, but in this vegan version we’ll be using “ham mock” or “sham hock,” or whatever vegan pun you prefer, it’s just a little liquid smoke and bay leaves. Since I’m not really content with a few beans over rice, let’s turn the bean around and prepare a full-on bowl. Lots and lots of steamed greens, red rice and smoky beans, smothered in a sauce that keeps up the Southern Jewish theme; a simple concoction of tahini and Frank’s Red Hot! This stuff is irresistible: spicy, nutty, savory, tangy, garlicky bliss. And to cool things down, a little tomato parsley salad is a welcome burst of freshness. This bowl will definitely start the year off right!
From my kitchen to yours, HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL! Here is to a fabulously prosperous 2013, glowing with peace, love and plenty of tahini.
Notes
~Tahini can vary in liquid from brand to brand. Some are very fluid and others are stiff and chunky. I prefer to use the more liquidy brands. Don’t be surprised if you have to add up to 1/2 cup of extra liquid when making the sauce, depending on the kind of tahini you have.
~Collards are probably the most fitting green to serve here, but the ones at my local Whole Foods were looking kind of sad, so I went with beautiful lacinto kale. Collards take about 7 to 10 minutes to steam, and kale only about 5. Simply discard the rough stems, tear leaves into large pieces, place in your steamer, and flip every few minutes using tongs, while checking for doneness. I like a little snap left in my greens, and consider them done when they’re a bright Godzilla green.
~You can definitely make everything but the greens and tomatoes in advance, if you like! The beans taste even better if they have time to absorb the smoke and seasoning overnight and the sauce keeps well in the fridge in a tightly sealed container.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup dried black eyed peas, soaked in water overnight
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon saltFor the Red Hot Tahini:
1/2 cup tahini
1/3 cup Louisiana Hot Sauce (like Frank’s Red Hot)
1/4 cup water (plus more as needed)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 clove garlic
For the Tomato Parsley Salad:
2 cups diced tomatoes
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley
1 cup finely sliced green onion
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Several dashes fresh black pepper
Dash salt
Also:
1 pound steamed greens (I used lacinto kale, see note)
6 cups cooked rice for serving (I used red rice)
Directions
Make the Hoppin’ John:Drain the soaked beans, and place them in a 4 quart pot. Submerge in water, with water coming about 2 inches above the beans. Add bay leaves, salt and liquid smoke. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring the heat down low, and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Check often so that they don’t overcook. When beans are still firm, turn the heat off and uncover. Let them hang out until everything else is ready. They will continue to cook in the hot water, so turning the heat off ensures that they don’t overcook.
Make the Red Hot Tahini:
Simply blend everything up in a little blender until smooth. A Magic Bullet works perfectly. Add water by the tablespoon to thin as needed. Taste for salt and spiciness.
Make the Tomato Parsley Salad:
Toss all ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. Taste for pepper and vinegar.
Assemble:
Place greens and rice side by side in a large bowl. Top with black-eyed peas. Drizzle with sauce and top with the tomato salad. Serve immediately and prosper!
I’ve never before used liquid smoke nor Frank’s Red Hot. I licked the bowl. The end.
I made this with the collard greens from AFR and skipped the tomato parsley salad. My guest from Japan loved his first traditional American NYD meal. I loved the tahini dressing and want to try it on a taco salad next!!
Video of tahini factory
http://youtu.be/a098ywH6DfQ
This was Deeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious! Thank you, and happy new year!
I’ve already commented but I’m commenting again. I want to put this red hot tahini on EVERYTHING. Mushrooms. Veggie burgers. Roasted veggies. It is delicious.
Oh Isa- I LOVE you and your recipes for BOWLS 🙂 Can you make a recipe types tab on the website for bowls?? I would eat them all week long. They are the perfect lunch!
That Red Hot Tahini sauce over a bowl of pasta and veggies. Oooooooh yeah baby!
As many have highlighted in the comments: This sauce, so simple (tahini + lots of hot sauce = you want to put this sauce on many–if not most– things you eat; many of us are thinking of ways to use this sauce on a regular basis), was there all the time, right under our noses, but we didn’t see it. It required your special, creative culinary imagination to come up with. You have the gift.
PS: Cats do come first–always have, from birth– in my world. Is that not the natural order of things? Did I marry into a French family of cat lovers by coincidence? I think not…
One of my favorite things about this recipe, besides being yummy and super easy, was the thought of vegans around the globe enjoying this same meal on the same day. I would have imagined us all dining around my table, but my house is really small.
That’s cute.
My new favorite dish. This awesome. And it looks just like the picture!
New Year’s resolution: put hot tahini sauce on everything.
Haha, finally a resolution I can stick to!
I made this tonight and the red hot tahini sauce is amazing!
Just made this. Totally awesome sauce, and clever bean infusion. I think this is going to be a standard dish in our house from now on. Great work! Thank you!
Red hot tahini – oh, yeah! HNY 🙂
Oooooh boy was this ever tasty! This (especially the divine SAUCE!) will be added to my regular recipe rotation for sure.
Had to make some mods (due to laziness/availability of canned black eyed peas in nearest store):
– I heated a can of pintos and a can of kidneys with some canned chipotles in adobo (partner reacts to liquid smoke)
– I didn’t have enough Frank’s, so I used some Sriracha as well
– I was craving EVEN MORE veggies, so I added chopped savoy cabbage, spinach and avocado to the salad.
Freaking amazing. Thanks, Isa!
Wow, this looks so amazing I’ve just bought some liquid smoke specially. You can only get it online here in the UK and it’s pretty expensive, but this recipe looks so damn amazing I HAVE to have it 😀
I was a few days late, and I used canned beans since they were in my pantry, but this was a mighty good meal. One of my favorites of the new year so far. The sauce was amazing, and all of the components just worked so well together. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
This was lovely and fresh and well-balanced-seeming for the new year. I missed out the nutritional yeast and added lemon juice to the sauce, which made it really sunshiney.
If it were socially acceptable I’d eat the Red Hot Tahini sauce out of a bowl until I was sick. Also for people wondering about a more liquid tahini I’ve been using http://www.amazon.com/Al-Wadi-Tahina-Ground-16-Ounce/dp/B001E5E2CW/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1357536106&sr=8-8&keywords=tahini and I love it.
This particular recipe inspired me to write…
A brief ode to Isa
You’ve got me believin’
that I can be vegan
with tofu and tempeh and pasta and pie.
If you bring the menu
then I’ll host the venue;
we’ll try all the things that a vegan can try!
Your Hoppin’ John’s smokin’
(and girl, I ain’t jokin’!)
by using ingredients straight from the earth.
A treat made from scratch is worth
two from the can, but man
none of that equals what Isa is worth!
Aww, that is so cute! Thanks so much <3
*Ten from the can. From scratch is way way better than canned.
Excellent recipe, as always Isa. It is just what the doctored ordered after a holiday of eating out and over indulging in junk food. I made this last night, it was tasty and hearty. I think I am going to make more of the sauce for other noms in the future too!
It was even better than I expected. I was feeling a little over-indulged after the holidays and this made me feel much better. I was just wondering, I can’t find Franks sauce (I’m in England) so I used tabasco, is that a good sub?
This bowl looks amazing. Also, I’m glad to learn I’m not the only one who likes mixing Frank’s with tahini… friends have given me weird looks when I suggested such in the past, but they don’t understand the magic. If I could drink Frank’s + tahini straight-up without getting sick I probably would.
A little late but happy new year and THANK YOU. This was delicious, I love both hot sauce and tahini but never combined them. I had some butternut squash sitting around so I cut it into little cubes, roasted it and threw it in on top… the sweetness was a nice complement to the bitter greens, tangy-rich sauce and smoky beans. Cannot stop emailing this to people. AND special bonus — the rare recipe that actually looks JUST LIKE the picture. bravo!
I made this today, the lazy way (heck, I didn’t even have hot sauce, so I used salsa) and it was good. Really GOOD. Suffice to say, I can’t wait to make it with black eyed peas and actual hot sauce.
Looks yummy! But as a resident of the south, I must point out Hoppin John traditionally has beans and rice. Which would be a nice addition to this wonderful bowl.
Hmm. Not sure what you mean because the bowl has both beans and rice.
Absolutely beautiful! And yummy I’m sure!!!
This was absolutely delicious!!! Thank you!
This was stunningly fabulous, I’m so glad I tried it !!! I had “most” but not all the ingredients. I had to sub a frozen broccoli/cauliflower mix rather than greens and my BEPs weren’t fresh they were canned but I drained them and added back a bit of veg broth and bay leaf and let them simmer a bit on the stove. I had no fresh tomato but all the other ‘salad’ ingredients so I drained a can of diced fire roasted tomatoes as my substitute. This will ABSOLUTELY be made again and again and since I already had to sub out a bit on your original recipe I now ‘get’ how flexible this can be based on my fridge/freezer. NOM NOM NOM
Because of this Red Hot Tahini sauce, I’ve had to learn to make my own tahini. I could not justify the expense of over $13 for 16oz jar of organic no salt added tahini, but for just over $3/lb for organic raw sesame seeds, yup, most definitely! Soak the seeds for a few hours (to remove bitterness and enzyme inhibitors), drain and rinse, put in 300F oven til dry and just turning light brown. Put in a food processor until it’s tahini! I’m glad I ignored all of those tahini recipes I found online that said to add oil, for none is needed whatsoever. Just process until very smooth.
I’m so excited to make this tonight! Would I be crazy to substitute sriracha for all the hot sauce? Because sriracha is all I have on hand!
Sriracha is much spicier, so you may want to use less. But I am sure it’ll be good because…Sriracha!
The Red Hot Tahini is somehow as satisfying to my tongue as a zesty cheese sauce. This will definitely help me to stay on a healthier diet! Thank you.
I have never had Hoppin’ John before, so I am not sure what it is supposed to taste like, but overall I found the dish very satisfying. I don’t like raw onion, so I used finely chopped celery instead of the green onion, and it actually worked out pretty well, I think.
I wasn’t sure how to eat it, so I mixed the whole thing up. Is that okay, or did I do it wrong?
I loooove the idea of tahini and hot sauce, despite not being a hot-sauce kinda girl. A beautiful bowl overall- yums. I wish you a fabulous 2013~ you and your kitties 🙂 aloha from Oahu, Andrea
Made this tonight for dinner and even my 2 year old loved it!!! But she is addicted to Frank’s Red Hot so this was gonna go over well anyway 😉 I did everything exactly to the recipe except for the rice. I ran out of red rice so I used long grain brown but it was still good, maybe not as colorful 😉 But seriously, Isa…You can make a killing if you sold this sauce!!!
Wow. I made this tonight and it is so much more than the sum of its (awesome) parts. It was delicious and warming and filling, and best of all I feel great an hour after eating it, not full in a heavy gross way. Next time I’m going to double the sauce, because it is incredible.
I just made this and it is soooooo good!!! The sauce is amazing!
I made this after our New Years karate training Kagami Biraki. I had friends over so I served it like a feijoada. It turned out great! I used swiss chard and black rice. Thank you for all the inspiration, Isa!!
This was awesome! The red-hot tahini is hotter than I usually go but really flavorful. I made it with cherry tomatoes which worked well.
Thank you for sharing!! Your food looks amazing!! I can just taste it every time I see it!
I have to add to the praises being sung, here. I’ve loved the bowl concept ever since I got my pre-ordered copy of *Appetite for Reduction.* This bowl is groovy and yummy and all things good and New Beginningy. But that Red Hot Tahini is a priceless artifact. I am eating it on everything (roasted butternut squash last night) and I cannot believe I never thought to combine it as Isa did. Thank you so much!!!!!!!
I made this tonight and I have to say WOW! This was an absolute flavor explosion. I made this exactly as per the recipe and it does not need a thing!! I look forward to the next recipe I am going to make. This website as made our choice of changing to a plant based diet such a wonderful decision. I have not craved meat at all and recipes like this help us keep the passion for food alive. Awesome!
When I saw this I knew I had to make it and it did not disappoint! Awesome recipe as usual!
Another winner! Your recipes are very inspiring, thank you!