Luck for the New Year

[ecosophia]

Now that the last hours of 2025 are trickling away, it occurs to me that some readers may want a little good luck in the coming year. American folk magic has some options to suggest with this in mind. The first things you eat tomorrow should be: 

Rice and beans -- what version of this always-hearty dish gets recommended by tradition depends on where you live, but red beans and rice, hoppin' John (rice with black-eyed peas), or rice with black beans are all common options. Cooking it with a little ham or pork sausage is traditional in many areas. Since it's been the standard meal for working folks in much of America since colonial times, if you eat it on New Year's day you'll always have enough to eat in the year ahead. 

Corn bread -- I know there are savage regional rivalries about what counts as real corn bread, but that doesn't matter; whatever kind of corn bread you prefer is the one to eat. Its golden color brings you many sunny days in the year ahead. 

Ham, pork sausage, or bacon -- this guarantees that you'll be able to eat like a pig in the year ahead. 

Some kind of leafy green vegetable -- cabbage, collard greens, or any other kind of green leafy you like will do.  The leaves stand for money, and bring you ample cash in the coming year. 

So there you have it. You can do this as a one dish meal, as shown in the photo, or as separate dishes. Enjoy, and a happy new year to all! 

Comments

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Some kind of leafy green vegetable <<

Originally, moringa leaves, the it-does-everything superfood tree from Africa. I got my hands on some dried leaves at an African grocery. Oh, so that's what this dish is supposed to taste like! I never did like the kale or collards versions.

"Crockpot African Black-Eyed Peas"

Re: Yes ...

[ecosophia]

Hmm! Never tried them. I enjoy most kinds of greens, though tomorrow's breakfast will as usual feature stir-fried cabbage with sesame seeds and red pepper. Thanks for the recipe -- that looks tasty.

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

If you like greens, definitely watch for moringa. I've seen it dried as an herb, and frozen as a vegetable. It has a leafy flavor with earthy and mineral notes.

https://foodprint.org/real-food/moringa/

[3bmend_135]

Do lentils count as beans?

[ecosophia]

Yes. Any legume will do.

[slclaire]

Black-eyed peas and ham hocks here! We had some for dinner tonight and have plenty of leftovers for the next few days.

[ecosophia]

Yum. I baked a pan of corn bread this evening and the beans are ready; I'll make the rice, fry up the ham, and stir-fry the cabbage tomorrow right after my morning meditation.

Beans and rice and greens: YES

[johno_1960]

Cannellini beans, with the stock left over from my Yule ham, wild rice and kale.

[(Anonymous)]

From the webpage which is the source of this picture, https://intentionalhospitality.com/new-years-foods-for-good-luck/:

"Families sometimes say 'peas for pennies, greens for dollars, and cornbread for gold,'..."
The article is fun and has lots of tasty-looking recipes.

Happy New Year!

- Cicada Grove

[(Anonymous)]

Making broth in the crock pot right now and corona beans in the instant pot. Tomorrow they will be both combined with sausage, greens, and some carrots/onions/celery. I am looking forward to it.

Happy New Year one and all.

corn must be golden ?

[atmosphericriver]

Hm, my flour corn is magenta, which makes a fantastic cornbread, but a very muddy colored cornbread. But, I do have store bought polenta, which is yellow corn so golden.

SO, I'll probably do a gypsy soup with sweet potatoes, kale, the last of the red peppers and garbanzo beans over golden polenta. I have store bought masa flour for home made tortillas, but it makes a weird cornbread

Re: corn must be golden ?

[ecosophia]

Not to worry! If your corn is magenta then your cornbread represents sunrise, and will bring many radiant new dawns in the new year.

Re: corn must be golden ?

[atmosphericriver]

Thank you, I had that imagery as I ground the corn, made the cornbread and soup, so many radient new dawn colors !

I hadnt made fresh ground flour since before the fire, so I carefully cleaned off the flour mill and did the corn and a teeny bit of soft wheat in it just for the bread. I hope you and everyone else here found their bread as delicious as this one turned out. The magenta corn is a flour corn variety, the corn flour(cornmeal) in the stores is usually from Dent corn. Very light and delicate taste

Besides joining in on the traditional good luck aspects, which is good to hang onto at the start of the 2026. I think there is another aspect of how we can often get more of what we put in, which I am not describing right no doubt. It is like priming the pump, you know, you buy a bit of an item and then more of it just finds its way to you ? you put in effort that gets a trend going a little bit. In this, we have procured or grown these ingredients, and put in the work, for this meal, which is an offering for more of the same to come our way in this new year. May it be so

Happy New Year

Re: corn must be golden ?

[(Anonymous)]

I'm trying to stick to an anti-inflamatory diet. All corn is off limits, as it all has been genetically modified. Supposedly. I'd like to include some non-gmo corn if I could find it.

Re: corn must be golden ?

[atmosphericriver]

My corn is not GMO modified. I dont think any organic corn is GMO modified either. Some farmers market growers also sell dry four or dent corns that they have grown that are not GMO if they are organic.

Where do you live ? It would not be too hard to find non-GMO corn flour in the USA, if you dont have a store near you that sells organic foods, see if you are by an Azure Standard route with a monthly deliver drop, they sell non GMO Organic corn. You can also order thru lots of other places for the Bobs Red Mill brand, even Amazon web site sells Bobs Red Mill organic corn flour, it may even be carried at Walmart, they do carry some organics, but I dont know on that, go look.

[(Anonymous)]

The basic rule for eating meat in Brazil's New Year dinner is that it must come from an forward-moving animal (pigs walk forward while eating,as turkeys and, of course, any fish)
Happy New Year for you all.

[ecosophia]

Hmm! That makes sense. Happy New Year!

[(Anonymous)]

In my neck of the woods, we were taught that on New Years Day you have pork or fish, because the pig roots forward and the fish swims forward; but the chicken scratches backward and the cow just stands there looking stupid, so no poultry or beef. :) Greens for currency; sliced carrots, sweet potatoes, or squash for coins; and cornbread for, as you said, sunny days ahead. Also, in contrast to Thanksgiving and Christmas, the meal should be simple and inexpensive, to promote thriftiness through the year. I also add some kind of filled dumplings, representing purses full of treasure - this year was Korean dumplings in pork broth. With the same symbolism, I like the DD Boston Cream pastries, and in some families ring-shaped pastries like doughnuts are part of the meal. For me, the main dishes are hoppin' john with ham hock, collards, fried sweet potato rounds, and New England style johnnycake. Happy New Year! :p

[thinking_turtle]

Thanks for the New Year post. A lot of sunny days sounds like just what is needed. I'll bake a corn bread today.

Best wishes for 2026 everyone!

[quoadsacra]

Happy New Year to you and your readers and thanks for the food tips. Some new rituals for what can be a somewhat heavy time are most welcome.

I was too late this time round to make beans and corn bread the night before but I have twelve months to practice making the recipes. And holding a generous supply of beans and rice is never a bad thing!

[ecosophia]

Not a bad thing at all. Back when I was a lot younger and a lot poorer than I am now, having a stash of rice and beans was sometimes the only thing that guaranteed a good meal.

[randomactsofkarmasc]

In my part of the world, collards (greens) are for paper money and carrots are for coins.

I hope everyone has a healthy and happy New Year!

[ecosophia]

So noted and thank you!

[(Anonymous)]

We're out of just about everything - December was hard and then we went to stay with family for a week and only got back last night - but I was able to scrounge a last can of garbanzo beans and some spam from the back of my cabinet. The greens are from the Longevity Spinach I planted in my fairy garden a couple months back.

I feel very much like I've captured the spirit of the thing.

[3bmend_135]

Would iceberg lettuce work for the green leafy vegetable?

[ecosophia]

Yes.

[(Anonymous)]

I did this with collards and Italian sausage, although I accidentally added too much oil and it came out a bit greasy. Hopefully it will help me slide through the year unscathed.

KVD

[(Anonymous)]

Managed to check all the boxes, but with a great deal of creative liberty.

Braised pork ribs, rice & chickpeas with the rib juices, and steamed cabbage as a nod to my peasant roots. A savory cornbread, baked in a skillet. Everything but the cabbage was overloaded with chili peppers.

Happy New Year to all!

*Ochre Harebrained Curmudgeon*

I open all the windows to let the old year out and the new year in.

[teresa_from_hershey]

I don't know why I started doing this some years back.
But it feels right.

I open the windows to let the old year out and the new year in.
Yes, I must turn off the furnace and the house gets could.
I set a timer for about 15 minutes or so.
On a windy day like today, that 15 minutes makes the entire house smell fresh!

I do this every year.