Getting Lucky

It's a tradition in the South to eat black-eyed peas on New Year's day. They bring you luck in the coming year. Each year my mom would serve up a bowl of peas with a quarter added to "boost" the prosperity of the lucky recipient. I honestly can't recall ever finding that quarter in my peas but I loved the sentiment. 

When I moved to Santa Barbara, I started making Hoppin' John, a rice and black-eyed pea dish with greens symbolizing folded money, on New Year's day. None of the locals had heard of this tradition, but no one seemed opposed to trying to get lucky in the coming year. 

I just made a big pot of it and savored my good luck serving and wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a blessed and prosperous 2010!

Hoppin' John

From Cooking Light

Ingredients

2 cups water

2 Tbsp whole grain Dijon mustard

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp dried thyme

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 1/2 cups diced onion

1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice

1 cup finely chopped ham

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans (15 oz) black-eyed peas

4 cups chopped trimmed greens (collard, turnip, and/or mustard)

Directions

Combine first four ingredients, stirring with a whisk; set aside. 

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; saute 6 minutes. Add rice, ham, and garlic; saute 2 minutes. Stir in water mixture; bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Add peas and greens; cover and cook 5 minutes. Stir rice mixture, cover and cook an additional 5 minutes or until greens and rice are tender. Yields: 6 servings.