Hoppin’ John Another Way

This recipe is an extrapolation from the classic hoppin’ John rice-and-bean dish originally made by the ancestors of the present-day African Americans. The recipe for the true traditional hoppin’ John can be found in John Taylor’s book Hoppin’ John’s Low Country Cooking (Bantam, 1992), and you must look at it to see how much liberty I have taken with the ingredients. But I am faithfully following his technique.