Sistah Pat

Note: Hoppin John is a southern dish with a lot of variations.  It’s basically a mix of diced tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, and black-eyed peas.  I’ve seen it with rice, ham, and sausage added.  Margaret Holmes canned Hoppin John consists of a mixture of diced tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, and black-eyed peas.  My family is a big fan of soup so I decided to try to use this as a base for soup one day and they loved the result.  I’ve made it with rice in the mixture and I’ve also made it with ham but this is the version I make when I’m watching calories.  Can’t find canned Hoppin John (usually in the canned vegetable section)?  No problem.  Just use canned tomatoes, a diced onion sauteed in Pam, a diced jalapeno sauteed along with it and some black eyed peas.  I never make it the same way twice but I wrote down everything I used this time and this is the result.  I ran out of ham flavored soup base or I would have used more.  I usually add an extra can of black-eyed peas but they’re pretty high in calories (and protein!) so I left them out but the result is a lot lower in calories than I would have thought so I may add a can.

1/2 pound round steak trimmed of all fat (464)
3 cans (14.5 oz.) Margaret Holmes Hopping John (840)
2 cans diced petite tomatoes (175)
1 can (7 oz.) chopped green chiles (35)
5 cans (14.5 oz) water
1 Tsp. Ham flavored soup base (15)
1 Tsp. Beef flavored soup base (10)

Simmer the beef until so tender it’s falling apart.  Dice and use the broth the beef was cooked in as the base for the soup.  Add the beef, Hoppin John, tomatoes, and green chiles.  Add jalapenos if you like it HOT!  Add water and soup bases to taste.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors.
Total calories for the entire pot came to 1579.  I measured it out and had 22 cups which comes to 70 calories per cup.