Start the year off right!

I’m not talking about resolutions to diet or exercise, I’m talking about Hoppin’ John! Hoppin’ John is a traditional New Year’s day meal in the south and is meant to set the tone for the coming year to be a prosperous year filled with good luck. It’s made with black eyed peas or field peas, usually bacon, greens and served with rice. The peas symbolize coins and the greens symbolize paper currency for wealth in the year ahead. It’s a yearly tradition in our house sans bacon. Want to increase your chances for prosperity? Eat the leftover Hoppin’ John (called Skippin’ Jenny when served as leftovers) on the 2nd of the year. We had enough left for two days of lunches, so hopefully that will work in our favor! We need a prosperous year to go where it’s warm in 2016.

Our favorite Hoppin’ John recipe is from the Post Punk Kitchen, check it out here: http://www.theppk.com/2012/12/hoppin-john-bowl-with-red-hot-tahini/ 

We like things spicy in our house so I add about 25% more hot sauce than the recipe calls for. Other than that, it’s the perfect mix of spicy and fresh. Don’t skip out on the tomato and parsley salad, it adds a cooling aspect that really rounds out the dish. If you have leftover tahini sauce, it’s awesome over a spinach salad or in a veggie wrap. I cheated this year and used canned beans but starting with dried beans definitely comes out better, I was just being lazy.

Good luck to everyone in 2015!

Starting 2015 off on the right foot!

Warm thoughts to all!