Black Eyed Peas for New Year's

I grew up in Alabama, where we ate black-eyed peas on New Year's Day for good luck & prosperity in the coming year. My favorite way to eat them is in Hoppin' John. Most people just make it like beans and rice, with salt pork or a ham bone, rice, salt & pepper. I make it Cajun style, like my dad's family in New Orleans:

Crock Pot Cajun-style Hoppin' John
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1 lb Andoule or hot Italian sausage
vegetable oil
1 can chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red or green bell pepper, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 can black-eyed peas
brown rice
water
Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning (or other Cajun seasoning)
Tobasco or other hot sauce

Brown sausage whole over medium-high heat in a heavy skillet that has been lightly coated with vegetable oil. Add broth, onion and garlic to the skillet and cover. Reduce heat to medium and cook until sausage is cooked through and the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Remove the sausage from the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Put broth and vegetables from the skillet in a large crock pot. Cut sausage into 1/4-inch pieces. Add sausage, tomatoes, bell pepper, celery, black-eyed peas to the crock pot. Measure 1 can of rice (using a tomato can) and add it to the pot. Measure 1 can of water and add it to the pot. Season with Cajun seasoning and tobasco to taste. Cook on high for at least 2 hours (or turn the crock pot on low and leave it all day).

Traditionally served with mustard greens, but a salad of dark, leafy greens will do just fine!