Hoppin' Turkey?

     It's Rich Person's Hoppin' John, with a lot of meat and a whole array of vegetables, and it's what I had for supper Saturday.

     There's a strip of bacon in there, and a couple of mild Italian sausages squeezed out of the casing, but also a pound of ground turkey, because they had it at the grocery and why not?  That got Cajun seasoning and some curry powder sprinkled on it while it all browned and the fat was drained off.

Shown right before adding the bay leaves and covering it to simmer.

     Then  it was step by step: diced carrots, slices of celery, some dice red, orange, yellow and green bell pepper (at least two pepper's worth; the grocer sells it sliced), followed by red onion; each addition was sauteed in the center of the cookpot before being stirred in and pushed to the side.  Then a couple of cans of mild Hatch chilies, some sliced organic (low salt but flavorful) Kalamata olives and a couple of big hot/sweet pickled okra, followed by a box (the equivalent of a large can) of crushed tomatoes and a can of blackeyed peas with about half the liquid.  All that got to simmer with three bay leaves, some dried garlic flakes, a little more Cajun seasoning and some this and that.

     It was almost too good.  I ate a bowl and a half and would have had more, if I had even less self-control.

     There was plenty left to freeze in three meal-sized bags for later.