In the fall, we drove to Nashville, Memphis and Birmingham for a great music and civil rights tour.* So I definitely wanted to honor the Southern tradition of ringing in the New Year with black-eyed peas and collards to bring good luck.
A couple of sayings I found on americanfood.about.com in relation to the tradition are “Eat poor on New Year’s, and eat fat the rest of the year” and “Peas for pennies, greens for dollars, and cornbread for gold.” Various websites note a legend that Northern troops left behind black-eyed peas during Civil War food raids because they considered them fodder for animals.
While we really enjoy the Lucky Stew I often make to mark the new year, sometimes I want something a little simpler and faster.
We usually have soup as an entree rather than as a starter or a side, so this is the doubled version of the soup I adapted from epicurious.com. Yay, leftovers! While I like to cook, I don’t necessarily want to do it every day.
If you don’t eat ham, try it with smoked turkey. And don’t wait till the new year to try it.
Ham and Black-Eyed Pea Soup with Collards for New Year’s
1 large onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots (I used commercially prepared)
2 cups diced or julienned cooked ham
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 pound collard greens, washed well
3 14.5-ounce cans chicken broth
3 cups water
2 15- or 16-ounce cans black-eyed peas (or about 3 cups frozen)
2 tsp. cider vinegar
Parmesan for garnish
Rinse and drain black-eyed peas. In a bowl, mash half of peas with a fork (optional if you are feeling lazy or pressed for time). Stir mashed and whole peas into soup and simmer 5 minutes. Season soup with salt and pepper and stir in vinegar.
This sounds really good – probably the type of ‘pea’ I can get behind! Thanks for the recipe, Debby!