Hoppin' John -- Rice and Black-Eyed Peas

In a 4 qt or pan brown bacon and cook onion in bacon grease until the onion is transparent. ** For vegan, omit bacon and use approximately 1/4 cup of vegetable oil to cook onion.

Add uncooked rice, black eyed peas (with juice) and water to your bacon onion mixture. Mix well. **For vegan add liquid smoke at this point to replace the smoke flavor that would have been added by the bacon.

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium.

When the tops of the bursting bubbles of boiling water are all of the liquid that can be seen above the rice, remove the pan from the heat and cover.

Wait at least twenty minutes, WITHOUT PEEKING!

Don't do it. You'll loose precious heat and steam.

Serve with bread of your choice, or with the veggies of your choice and plenty of hot sauce. Of course, the variety of hot sauce you choose will depend on your tolerance for heat. If you would like, this could be served as a side dish, as well.