TRADITIONAL NEW YEAR’S GOOD LUCK FOOD, raw take

POST #874
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

MY TRADITIONAL NEW YEAR’S GOOD LUCK FOOD
I am from the South, and Southerners eat black-eyed peas, greens (collards or kale), and pork (usually a ham hock or a hog jowl cooked together with the black-eyed peas and the greens, for flavor. (In other parts of the country, they might eat the same thing – I don’t want to exclude anyone – I just can only speak for what we do in the South).

The foods Southerners traditionally eat on New Year’s Day have meaning:
BLACK-EYED PEAS SYMBOLIZE PLENTY AND PROSPERITY).   When you cook black-eyed peas, they almost double in size. I’ve heard a number of different stories about black-eyed peas – most of them stem from an event in the War Between the States, in the 1800s. I’ve heard that a city was burned down (some say Charleston, some Atlanta, some Savannah – that doesn’t matter – the Union army made a point of burning down Confederate cities ) The story I have heard most often was that the starving people, homeless because of the burning, found a warehouse with barrels of black-eyed peas, and, so, they were able to eat (and, possibly—now this is me thinking – plant a new crop). This morning, I learned that some people say that, in Vicksburg, VA, the Union army burned all of the crops, save the black-eyed peas, which they mistakenly believed to be only food for animals.

GREENS (COLLARDS OR KALE) SYMBOLIZE PROSPERITY: Green has long been the color of American money.

HAM/PORK SYMBOLIZES PROGRESS: The pig is the only animal that moves forward while it is eating.

MY RAW NEW YEAR’S GOOD LUCK FOOD

BLACK-EYED PEAS: I ate 5-day black-eyed pea sprouts with chopped red bell pepper, onion, garlic, and an olive oil and apple cider vinegar dressing.

GREENS: Most years, I eat marinated massaged collards or kale, but, this year, I had a batch of cheezy kale chips, so munched on those while I was doing things around the kitchen.

So, WHAT ABOUT THE HAM? Early on, I decided to resolve this issue by “intention”. I have a little pig figurine made of gold. I place it on the table when I am eating my New Year’s good luck food, and I think about it. I think about how the pig eats while it is moving forward, and I think about how the pig I have is made of gold, and how valuable my little pig is. Even when I have desperately needed money, I have never thought of selling my little gold pig. He urges me to find other ways to get money. That’s progress.

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NEW YEAR’s RECIPES (with raw food you need to plan ahead…)

Where I am from in the South, traditionally, we eat black-eyed peas, collards (or other greens, like kale), and pork, on New Year’s Day.
The collards are green, like money, and symbolize prosperity in the New Year. The black-eyed peas symbolize good luck, and the pork also symbolizes prosperity (because the pig is the only animal which eats while it is moving forward)

I don’t eat pork, duh, but I do keep up the tradition of greens and black-eyed peas.

BLACK-EYED PEAS
1 C dried organic black-eyed peas
1 – 2 T minced onion (to taste, optional)
1 – 2 T minced garlic (to taste, optional)
1 – 2 T extra virgin olive oil (to taste)
1 – 2 T apple cider vinegar (to taste)
sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste (optional)

Sprout black-eyed peas for 3 – 4 days (soak for 12 hours,
drain, and sprout, rinsing twice daily for 2 – 3 – 1/2 more days)
Mix sprouted black-eyed peas with minced onion and a minced garlic to taste (optional).
Add olive oil and vinegar, and mix well.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

You can also find these COLLARDS RECIPES elsewhere within blog. They are re-listed here for your convenience.

MARINATED GREENS
MARINADE
1/4 C apple cider vinegar
1/4 C sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 C scallions, white parts only, finely only
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t red pepper flakes
2 t sea salt, divided
1/2 t black pepper
1 bunch collard greens (or other greens)
1/8 C olive oil

1 – Mix apple cider vinegar, sun-dried tomatoes, scallions, garlic, red pepper flakes, 1 t sea salt and pepper. Set aside.
1 – Roll up 2 – 3 leaves into a cylindrical “cigar” shape.
2 – With a sharp knife, thinly slice the rolled greens crosswise into ribbons.
3 – Cross-chop the “rounds”
4 – Place in a large bowl.
5 – Repeat steps 1 – 4 until all greens have been chopped.
6 – Add in olive oil, remaining 1 t salt, and marinade mixture.
7 -Massage all ingredients until mass is reduced by half.
8 -Refrigerate and marinate for 1 – 24 hours

MASSAGED MARINATED GREENS
this comes out enough like old-fashioned Southern greens to satisfy your longing for Grandmamma’s cooking.

1 bunch greens (collards, kale, beet, turnip)
5 – 10 kalamata olives, finely chopped
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, slivered
fresh garlic, finely chopped, to taste, or garlic powder (optional)
chili seasoning, to taste (optional)

1 – Roll up 2 – 3 leaves into a cylindrical “cigar” shape.
2 – With a sharp knife, thinly slice the rolled greens crosswise into ribbons.
3 – Cross-chop the “rounds”
4 – Place in a large bowl.
5 – Repeat steps 1 – 4 until all greens have been chopped.
6 – Add remaining ingredients to bowl and mix.
7 – With hands, ‘massage” greens until bulk is reduced by half.
8 – Set aside to marinate for one hour (or up to 24 hours).
Alternatively, eat right away.

Just in case you missed it – find my CHAMPAGNE Rejuvelac recipe here.

Get moving!!! There are only 5-1/2 days until New Year’s Eve. Yes, you CAN celebrate in style!!!

BEWARE OF HOLIDAYS

Duh! You knew that! Holidays are the times when we want to fall back into old eating patterns and chow down on the stuff we know, the holiday food that means it is holiday time! So… we come up with raw versions… and we never stop to think about what we are doing! (to make a raw version of most holiday foods, in all likelihood, we are going to want to add sweeteners (agave syrup, dates, etc.), and we are probably going to be heavy into the nuts (how can you make shortbread if you don’t use nuts?) I don’t know about you, but what I miss most are the desserts... and what goes into the raw versions??? nuts, dried fruit, sweetener…..

So…. if we succumb to making raw substitutes, we are highly likely to find ourselves putting on weight.

The fact of the matter is that with many of the “transition” type recipes,we will not escape holiday weight gain simply because we are eating raw food. which offer us “the taste of the past”, are likely to help us maintain an unhealthy weight, or else gain weight unexpectedly. Yes, the ugly truth is that you can gain weight on a raw food diet.

Ideally, we will continue to be vigilant, and eat only properly combined recipes and meals.

If we are normal humans, we may find ourselves enjoying our “traditional-style” raw versions of the holiday foods we know and love, and , then, we will be faced with the need to cleanse and diet in the New Year, just as we would if we were not raw.

Be aware. Be ready.