Hoppin' John

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped celery
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cups water
• 2 smoked ham hocks (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1 (16-ounce) bag frozen black-eyed peas
• 1 cup uncooked jasmine or basmati rice
• 3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped green onion tops

1. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, green bell pepper, celery, and garlic; saute 5 minutes. Add thyme, red pepper, salt, black pepper, and bay leaves; cook 1 minute. Add water and ham hocks, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes. Add peas; cook for an additional 30 minutes.
2. Remove ham hocks from pan; cool. Remove ham from bones; finely chop. Discard bones, skin, and fat. Add rice and red bell pepper to pan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in ham. Discard bay leaves. Spoon into a serving dish, and sprinkle with green onions.

vegetable oil, onion, green bell pepper, celery, garlic, thyme, red pepper, salt, ground black pepper, bay leaves, water, ham hocks, blackeyed peas, jasmine, red bell pepper, green onion

Taken from www.myrecipes.com/recipe/hoppin-john-8 (may not work)