Happy New Year! It’s 2014, a new year, and a new start… actually I made some changes before the first day of 2014, but January 1 still feels like a new start anyway. For the first time in years, I stayed up ’til midnight and saw the Times Square ball drop (on TV), and I’m glad for that. The next morning I took a walk to the park and made sprouted spelt pancakes for breakfast, along with coffee and mimosas. Watched the Rose Parade. And later that day I made Hoppin’ John.
Hoppin’ John is known as a traditional Southern New Year’s dish, supposedly one that brings good luck for the year, especially if you eat it with greens (green = the color of money). I’ve read that it has origins with Southern slaves, and—new to me—that it has even deeper origins with the Jewish community, 2,500 years ago. It was first written down in The Carolina Housewife, a cookbook from 1847.
The dish is most commonly made with black eyed peas, and my ancestors from Arkansas would have likely used them. It can also be made with cowpeas/field peas; that option is common in the low country region of South Carolina, including the South Carolina Sea Islands. This year, I chose to make Hoppin’ John with Sea Island Red Peas that I bought from Anson Mills. They were delicious! I love how this simple pot of beans (peas) is savory, smoky, and substantial.
I regret not getting some Carolina gold rice in my Anson Mills order, but those are the breaks. In true Queens fashion, I ate it with Kalijira rice—AKA baby basmati rice—which worked just fine. I love the texture of this rice and look forward to trying it in rice pudding soon.
For the Hoppin’ John recipe, I chose to use the one from Simply Recipes, and I’m so pleased with the way it came out. I ate it with collard greens and the whole meal was absolutely delicious. A great way to start the new year!
Hoppin’ John from Simply Recipes
As far as New Year’s resolutions go, I decided to change things I was dissatisfied with a couple of weeks prior to January 1. One of the big ones is to increase my consumption of nutrient-dense foods. I sort of fell off the wagon in that area and have experienced physical discomfort as a result. As soon as I added in more raw milk, fermented foods (especially kombucha), and a lot more vegetables, things started to improve. More on that in a later post.
