New Recipe No. 5 - Hopping John

This recipe is really for a main dish, but I chose to make it a side dish.  It's traditionally a dish enjoyed when welcoming the new year, but I figured - why not? :)

It was good, but it wasn't the easiest dish to fix.  I like quick dishes and this one was certainly not that.  Plus, I had a little trouble with the rice because I just couldn't seem to keep enough liquid in the pan for it to cook.  So, that itself took much longer than it should have.  If I make this dish again, I think I'll use minute rice. (When I was growing up, one thing my mom always told me that she could in no way, no how, make biscuits.  That's how I am with rice.  If it's not minute rice or some type of flavored rice mix, I can't make it turn out right.)

I didn't use a Dutch oven as the recipe suggests.  I wonder if that would have made a difference with the rice...

I do recommend this recipe - especially if you're not rice-challenged like me! :)

Enjoy!



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I couldn't find this recipe online.  It's from my Southern Living: 30 Years of Our Best Recipes cookbook.

What I Learned:

I would prefer this as a main dish.

I cannot cook rice.  Oh wait, I already knew that!