In the American South, there is a saying: peas for pennies, greens for dollars and cornbread for gold. Hoppin’ John, (black-eyed peas and rice), Sauteed Collard Greens and Iron Skillet Corn Bread are dishes that, for many, are connected with prosperity and luck in the New Year. They also feature ingredients and techniques associated with Black foodways. For your New Year’s Day meal, try serving one or more of these traditional dishes — or variations of them.
Jonathan Gold’s Hoppin’ John simplifies the preparation and cooks spicy heat into the dish rather than adding it at the end. A Senegalese preparation, this Black-Eyed Pea Salad, dressed with lime juice and olive oil, is a riot of color on the plate. Little Beast’s Black-Eyed Pea Hummus takes the concept of Hoppin’ John in an entirely different direction.
Give collards a different flavor profile with Sukuma Wiki, a Nigerian, garlicky, gingery sauté of collard greens. Collard Squares are like a very dense quiche with no cream and no troublesome crust. And these California Greensuse a variety of greens and get a smoky flavor from grilling the chard stems.
Any combination of these tasty dishes will make for an enjoyable meal and some good conversation about what you and your dining companions seek in the coming year.
This easy black-eyed pea salad (salatu niebe) is a riot of colors on the plate -- cooked peas (native to Africa), diced tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, scallions and parsley.
Collard squares are like a dense quiche with no cream and no troublesome crust. Cook the greens with salt and garlic until soft, chop and mix them with eggs, shiitakes and cheese.
The secret to the incredible lightness of this sweet cornbread is the cake flour. Flecks of green jalapeno and red bell pepper add flavor, texture and a little bit of heat.
This recipe allows cooked greens to be all they can be — spicy (mustards), pleasantly bitter and slightly astringent (chard), deeply verdant (Tuscan kale) or bright (micro greens).
Lightly sweet and with a delicate crumb, the cornbread at Zynodoa is served piping hot in a cast-iron skillet, topped with melted butter and a thin crust of caramelized sugar.