Directions

1. Make the pork belly: In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, salt, thyme, and hot sauce. Place pork belly in a casserole dish and rub sugar mixture on both sides. Wrap casserole dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
2. Once meat is marinated, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a roasting pan with foil and rinse sugar mixture off of pork. Pat pork belly dry with paper towels and place it in the roasting pan. Roast until pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees, about 40 minutes.
3. Make the peas: While pork is cooking, drain black-eyed peas and place in a medium sauce pot. Add water to cover by about 1 inch and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the peas are tender but not mushy, about 30 minutes. Drain and allow peas to cool to room temperature.
4. While the peas cook, bring 3 cups of water and ¼ teaspoon salt to a boil and stir in rice. Bring back to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 12 minutes, then spread rice out on a sheet pan, dot with butter and sprinkle with black pepper. Bake for 5 minutes, then stir and return to oven for another 5 minutes. Set rice aside to cool to room temperature.

1. Place collards in a large bowl. Add 1½ tablespoons of vinaigrette and massage the collards for 2 minutes, until the fibers in the leaves begin to break down and the leaves become tender. Add rice, black-eyed peas, shallot, green onions, carrot, celery, bell peppers, and parsley to the bowl and stir to combine.
2. To serve, cut warm pork belly into 2 x 4-inch rectangles and place on a bed of the hoppin’ john salad. Drizzle with remaining vinaigrette.