Blackeye Peas Recipe For New Years Luck

Eating blackeye peas to bring in the New Year is a southern tradition that’s easy to follow with this simple recipe.

Beans, including blackeye peas, are the perfect health and weight loss food. They are high in protein, low in fat, and near the bottom of the glycemic scale. Blackeye peas are inexpensive, and a great choice for frugal living. It’s no wonder that southern families eat a traditional meal of blackeye peas to bring on a year of good luck.

Blackeye Peas for Good Luck

At the very least, cooking up a pot of blackeye peas on New Year’s Eve and eating them for lunch on New Year’s day along with a mess of collard greens will bring you the luck of a frugal budget, and low cholesterol. If you want to push your luck a little further try some of these variations gathered from numerous relatives in the south:

Top Number One Luck Getter: Cook your beans up on New Year’s Eve. As the clock strikes midnight, give that quick kiss to your honey, then count out 365 blackeye peas and eat them down. Next day have the full meal of blackeye peas, cornbread and collard greens to symbolize that luck and frugality come together. Then stand back and wait for the riches to pour in.

Good Luck Blackeye Peas: Soak the beans as you head off to party on New Year’s eve, then start them to simmering first thing the next morning. That wonderful smell will start bringing in the luck right away. Cook up the whole feast for your first meal of the New Year: Blackeye peas, collard greens and cornbread. You’ll gain one day of good luck for each bean you eat, so either dish out a big bowl, or count them to be sure.

Add A Penny: Some families add a penny to the pot right before serving. Whoever gets the penny will get the best luck. But caution: this tradition is not really as safe as it used to be. Pennies are no longer made of copper, but mostly of zinc.

Blackeye Peas Recipe

In the traditional meal the blackeye peas themselves represent coins. You’ll get a day of luck during the year for every one you eat. Our traditional family recipe does not call for precise measurements. This is a poor folk meal, and you use what you have on hand. I’ve altered the recipe a bit to include the health benefits and taste of olive oil. Here’s how to cook them up.

Rinse and then soak a 1 pound bag of blackeye peas in 6 cups of water until they swell (typically 6 hours to overnight). Next morning bring the pot to a simmer.
In a fry pan drop a dollop of olive oil and fry up a chopped onion, green pepper, and 3-4 crushed and chopped cloves of garlic. Add the vegetables to your simmering beans.
Flavor with a bay leaf, 1 tsp thyme leaves, a good shake of red and black pepper, and salt to taste. Make it nice and spicy.
Put a lid on the pot and tilt it a bit to the side to keep the peas from boiling over. Simmer about 2 hours until done.

Ham hocks and/or bacon can be added to the blackeye peas, but it’s not traditional in all families. Some say the tradition of blackeye peas at New Year’s comes from the Civil War when Sherman’s troops destroyed all the other crops, leaving only the blackeye peas because they considered them as animal feed. This was perhaps the first luck of the blackeye pea as it served for food for surviving southern families. Those folk back then didn’t have a ham hock to add, and it’s not necessary for this traditional New Year’s meal.

Good Luck in the New Year

Serve up the blackeye peas with cornbread, and some collard greens which have been chopped, steamed and then fried in olive oil, salt, a shake of sugar, and one spoon of vinegar. Enjoy your good luck for the whole year, along with low cholesterol and a reduced food budget. Heck, why not eat them all year!