This was Shannon's week to pick her favorite soup for our Sunday Slow Soupers. I think we twisted her arm a bit when she picked this one. It is perfect for the week of New Years. 
Hoppin' John Soup
1 onion, chopped in fairly small pieces
1 cup celery, chopped in fairly small pieces
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
2-3 cups diced ham
8 cups chicken stock
2 16 oz packages frozen black-eyed peas
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 bunch fresh collard greens, chopped (about 2 cups when measured after chopping, but next time I would use more)
pinch red pepper flakes
2 tsp apple cider vinegar, or more to taste
Optional: ham flavor base if needed, see note at end of the recipe
In large frying pan, saute onion and celery in olive oil about 5 minutes, until starting to soften. Add garlic and saute 2 minutes more, then add ham and saute over very low heat 10 minutes. (Don't skip this step, which concentrates the ham flavor into the vegetables.)
Transfer mixture to large soup pot, add chicken stock, black eyed peas, and ham rinds if available, and cook at very low simmer for one hour.After soup has cooked one hour, taste for flavoring. Add more water and ham flavor base if needed. (It will depend on your ham, but I usually add a tiny bit. I added about 2 cups more water to the soup at this point.) Add chopped collard greens, stir into soup and simmer one hour more, or until black-eyed peas are quite soft. When black-eyed peas are as soft as you want them, remove pieces of ham rind, then use an immersion blender, food processor, or hand masher to partially process about half the soup. You want a mixture of broken and unbroken black-eyes peas, with some thickening of the soup from the pureeing process. Be careful not to over process. Add red pepper flakes and vinegar and simmer 10 minutes more. Serve hot.
(Makes 6-8 servings, recipe created by Kalyn with inspiration from The Gourmet Cookbook.)
The recipe says that the red pepper flakes are optional... mine weren't optional! In fact I added tobasco in the end. A wedge of buttermilk cornbread finished off the meal. There will be plenty of leftovers for the week.
Y'all enjoy!
Sandi