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Happy New Year!

I wanted to share my New Years Day dinner with y’all. While this meal is typically eaten on New Year’s Day for good luck and prosperity, you could enjoy this delicious dinner any time of the year!

This year I cooked a small ham for me and my husband, along with sweet potatoes, collard greens, black eyed peas and cornbread. This was a true southern meal and my husband, and several friends I shared a plate with, loved it!

I was surprised to learn how many of y’all had never had black eyed peas or had not heard about the tradition of eating them on New Year’s Day, so I wanted to share this recipe with you.

Scroll down below the recipe to see how I put this whole meal together…

Black Eyed Peas Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. dried black eyed peas
• 2 Tbsp bacon fat (or Olive oil)
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 small carrot, diced
• about 5 cups of chicken broth
• salt and pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• Cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp vinegar

Instructions:

1. Sort thru the beans to pick out any debris. While it’s rare to find a rock in dried beans, you’d much prefer to find it with your eyes than your teeth.
2. Cover peas with water and soak for a few hours, or overnight.
3. Heat bacon fat in a large pot over medium heat. Sauté onion, celery, and carrot for 5 minutes until softened.
4. Drain the beans and add them to the pot. Add broth, salt and pepper to taste, 2 bay leaves and a few shakes of cayenne or red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil.
5. Turn the heat down, cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes.
6. Stir in the vinegar and taste. Adjust seasonings if needed. To thicken it, remove the lid and cook for another 20-30 minutes. If you want it thinned out, add more broth and continue cooking. I like my peas to have a little bit of give to them, soft, but not mushy.
7. Serve with collards, ham, and cornbread for a true southern meal!

Here’s a quick run down of what I did for my NYD dinner:

I made a glaze by whisking together a couple spoonfuls of maple syrup, brown sugar, dijon and powdered mustard and massaged it all over the piggy. Cooked low and slow for a couple hours (I followed the directions on the package for how long to cook it based on the size).

I wrapped two big sweet potatoes (or garnet yams) in foil and baked those until they were soft and squishy – about 90 minutes at 400. Cooked the peas as above.

I washed and chopped my collards, chopped about half a small onion, cooked the onion in some bacon fat, then added the greens and some water and cooked them until they were tender (you could also use butter, or olive oil, and if you have a lil piece of bacon or leftover ham, you can toss it in).

Now here’s the part that’s going to send any foodies into a tizzy, I used a box of Jiffy cornbread mix, added a 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, used buttermilk instead of regular milk and threw in two large spoonfuls of this Trader Joe’s corn salsa.

One of my friends said this was the best cornbread she’d ever eaten, restaurant or homemade!

If you have a sacred cornbread recipe that you love, please use it. If you want a quick, easy pan of hot cornbread that tastes delicious, use the box, baby. Remember, if you prepare a meal in your kitchen, it counts as homemade, no need to make every single part of the meal from scratch!

Speaking of making things easier for yourself, if you want to start with canned beans, just heat them up on a low simmer, add any veggies you like, carrots, celery, bell pepper, and your favorite seasonings. Cook some rice and this would make a quick and easy weeknight dinner.

Do you have a New Years Day tradition? Have you eaten this type of meal? If so, I’d love to hear from you!

~Anne

I’m a Vancouver, Washington based Personal Trainer and Licensed Massage Therapist.

I offer these recipes to tickle your tastebuds, please see your medical professional for specific dietary advice.