Extra Good Luck on New Year's Day

I have tried to keep up the tradition of having black eyed peas on New Year's Day for good luck.  It's not so much that I believe the good luck part, but I do love black eyed peas.

I have used fresh shelled black eyed peas, dried black eyed peas, frozen black eyed peas, and even
canned black eyed peas in past years.  This year I chose to use dried black eyed peas. 

That morning I cooked two pounds of dried black eyed peas.  I used half of those peas to make Caribbean Black Eyed Peas, from the Moosewood Restaurant Favorites cookbook.  I am really loving this cookbook.  The recipe is as follows:

2 Tbsp. vegetable or olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 heaping Tbsp. peeled and grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. dried pepper flakes (pepperoncini)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
4 cups cooked black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 cup orange juice
salt
ground black pepper

Warm the oil in a large skillet or saucepan on medium heat.  Add the onions and garlic and cook for about six minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are golden and soft.  Add the ginger, pepper flakes, thyme, and allspice and cook for five minutes.  Add the drained, cooked black eyed peas and the orange juice and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I served sautéed kale, baked sweet potato, and cornbread with the Caribbean Black Eyed Peas.

The dried pepper flakes were my own addition to the recipe.  When I read this recipe, I thought the orange juice would probably overpower the peas, but it was actually a nice, subtle orange taste.  I think if someone used prepared orange juice from the grocery store, it would be a little overpowering.  I used fresh squeezed orange juice.

Some of the oranges at our daughter's house in Austin

In fact, the reason I picked this recipe for our black eyed peas this New Year's Day was to use up some of the abundance of oranges our daughter sent home with us after Christmas Day.  She and her family are whole food, plant based people, who also love to save some money.  When oranges were on sale for 5 pounds for $1, her husband bought 150 pounds of oranges.  No, that is not a typo, and they are a family of four, with one and three year old children.  I really love their spirit. 

A couple of months ago they bought 100 pounds of bananas when they were on sale.  The person who checked them out asked if they had a pet monkey.  I just love this family.

Okay, I need to get back to the subject.
I was left with another pound of cooked black eyed peas, so that evening we made black eyed pea burritos, with avocado, caramelized onions and red peppers, some leftover sautéed diced potatoes, crisp lettuce, fresh tomatoes, jalapenos, and salsa.  I wasn't sure if we would love black eyed pea burritos, but they were great. 

I am thinking we should have great luck this year, having two black eyed pea meals on New Year's Day.  I know we had two really great meals that day.