Black-Eyed Peas and Collard Greens: a New Year's Tradition

Why Southerners eat black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year's Day and recipes for both!

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. WHERE THE TRADITION STARTED
2. BLACK-EYED PEAS RECIPE
3. COLLARD GREENS RECIPE
4. TRADITIONAL RECIPES TO SERVE WITH THEM

There are a few things we take pretty seriously down here in the South. The first is college football. Can I get an Amen?

Two other things we’re pretty serious about are tradition and superstition. And those last two go hand-in-hand in the South on New Year’s Day.

It’s a Southern tradition to eat black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year’s Day for good luck in the new year. And more specifically, the superstition is that eating collard greens on New Year’s Day will bring you dollar bills and eating black-eyed peas will bring you cents throughout the upcoming year.

HOW DID THE TRADITION OF EATING BLACK-EYED PEAS & COLLARD GREENS ON NEW YEAR'S GET STARTED?

There are lots of theories as to why this is, but my favorite, and I think maybe most likely to be true, is that when Sherman’s troops raided the food supplies of the South during the Civil War, they stuck their noses up at the peas and greens and left them behind (they thought they were feed for the animals – what a bunch of dummies!).

The Southerners considered themselves lucky to have been left with these hearty staples, which sustained them through the winters, so black-eyed peas and collard greens became symbols of good luck.

So every year, you can count on finding a big pot of black-eyed peas and a skillet of collard greens on almost every stove south of the Mason-Dixon line. I like to serve mine with a mess of Ribs & Rice, Charleston Red Rice or Neck Bones & Rice . Ooo-weee, don’t that all just sound good?! I’m ready to eat it all now!

Recipe for Black-Eyed Peas Recipe

Black-Eyed Peas Recipe

Recipe for Collard Greens Recipe

Collard Greens Recipe

SOUTHERN RECIPES TO SERVE WITH BLACK-EYED PEAS AND COLLARD GREENS ON NEW YEAR'S DAY

You can serve anything from Baked Country-Style Ribs to Fried Cubed Steak with black-eyed peas and collard greens but my family always serves some sort of pork and rice main dish. Along with the baked sweet potatoes, you can guarantee we’ll have one of the following recipes come New Year’s Day!

Ribs & Rice - An old-school Southern recipe made with rice cooked in a rich stock made from slowly cooked country-style ribs.

Charleston Red Rice - A Lowcountry recipe popular from Charleston to Savannah, made from rice cooked with bacon and a tomato broth seasoned with peppers and onions perfected by the Gullah and Geechee.

Neck Bones & Rice - A rustic Southern recipe of rice cooked in the savory stock from slowly simmered pork neck bones.