BEP, collard, bacon, cornbread soup! The perfect New Year's Day meal!

Sure, you’ve heard all of the old wives tales about what to eat on New Year’s Day in order to kick of the upcoming year the right way. Well, around here, we are a bunch of gluttons…and we’re incredibly lazy, so we got to thinking about how we could combine as many of the superstitions into one. Here’s what we came up with.

The first thing on the New Year’s Day menu is always black-eyed peas. Word on the street is that, since BEP and other legumes are shaped like coins, eating them at the start of the new year will bring you wealth for the upcoming 365 days.

Next on the buffet line is collard greens. And, it’s not a stretch to understand why the leafy greens are supposed to bring you good fortune. They are green, thin and paper-like. It’s reminiscent of what money looks like right?

Moving on down, as your plate is filling up quickly, is the pork dish. Apparently, because of a pig’s forward motion (did you know they physically can’t walk backward?) eating pork on New Year’s Day is supposed to bring you luck and forward progress in the new year. Also, as a sort of two-for-one deal, pork is very rich in fat and therefore is believed to bring you wealth and prosperity.

Finally, you’ll throw a big hunk of cornbread on your plate. A slice of perfectly baked cornbread is thought to resemble a bar of gold and therefore is said to bring, you guessed it, more wealth and fortune in the new year.

So, for how to get 4 times the wealth and not leave out the luck and forward progress, we suggest a delicious soup made of all of these “Best Year Ever” ingredients.

Introducing…BEP, Collard, Bacon, Cornbread Soup! Courtesy of Eating Well:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, sliced
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, (4 sliced and 1 whole), divided
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper , or to taste
• 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 5 cups chopped collard greens, or kale leaves (about 1 bunch), tough stems removed
• 1 15-ounce can black-eyed peas, rinsed
• 2 slices cooked bacon, finely chopped
• Jiffy Cornbread mix

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring, until just tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add sliced garlic, thyme and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Increase heat to high and add broth, tomatoes and their juice. Bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in collard greens (or kale), reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens are tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Discard the thyme sprig. Stir in black-eyed peas; remove from the heat and cover.
2. Meanwhile, bake the cornbread according to the package directions.
3. Float the cornbread (smothered in butter, of course) on top of the soup.

And, there you have it. The most delicious, rather healthy, luckiest, money-making New Year’s Day meal you’ve ever had! Enjoy!