Holy Cow! It is 2009!

For years, I have been enamored with the fact that the New Year brings all those food traditions for luck. If there is one, there are hundreds of food items that you should eat to bring you luck, health and happiness in the New Year. The foods for the tradition are unique to families and cultures. Every single time that I hear of a different food that brings you luck, I want to add it to our family New Year celebration. Needless to say, we spend our entire New Year family celebration believing every thing we eat is going to bring us blessings and untold fortunes.

This tradition can be a little tricky for picky and finicky eaters. In our family the meal is sauerkraut and pork, with a healthy dose of black-eyed pea salad. We top the meal off with each person eating twelve grapes. Each sweet grape represents a wonderful month of the year. Each sour grape might mean you could be in for a rough month. Of course, we all claim that every grape that we eat is the sweetest ever.

As my sister’s children and mine grow older, they are more and more involved in this tradition. Let’s face it, not many eight year olds are going to eat sauerkraut, but between the six kids everybody tried a bite of everything.

This brings me to the black-eyed pea salad. The beauty of this salad is the beauty of it. It is so colorful and so insanely fresh with taste. It is the perfect way to start the New Year. The different peppers make the salad robust and dense in flavor. It can be used as a salad, relish, and salsa or in so many other ways. Feel free to add, delete or substitute the peppers of your choice. Remember, this creation doesn’t just have to sit there and look pretty and bring you luck for the New Year, eat it all year round!!

Peppered Black-eyed Pea Salad

2 16-oz cans black-eyed peas drained and rinsed of all juice
¼ cup juice from peas

2 bunch scallions, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

3 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

3 fresh jalapeño chilies, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
2 other peppers of your choice chopped

1 can Rotel tomatoes with peppers and lime juice

1/2 cup olive oil

Juice from three limes

4 cloves fresh garlic, pressed or minced.

Mix all together, chill, serve and enjoy!

Excuse me! If you are still reading you must now go to the kitchen and start making your luck for the New Year!