This popular southern meal was first introduced to me by my late father-in-law, Felix Adams. He knew that I would love it and wanted someone to joyfully carry on his Mississippian family tradition. As I devoured my first plate, Felix told me how this good luck meal was originally prepared by West African slaves on the rice plantations of South Carolina’s Gullea area for their families. They combined locally grown legumes known as cowpeas (basically black-eyed peas) with rice, then flavored everything with pork and simple seasonings. Collard greens came to symbolize economic prosperity, and corn bread is just plain good.

While slave cooks had long appreciated the value of black-eyed peas, it took a recipe in Sarah Rutledge’s 1847 cookbook, The Carolina Housewife to get the attention of the upper-class southern ladies. Today the dish is sometimes served with Champagne at the stroke of midnight. Some tuck a coin into the mixture before serving, believing that the lucky recipient will have an especially fortunate new year. Personally, I think that if you’re willing to risk choking to death or breaking a tooth during a ruckus celebration, you’re going to need all the luck you can get.

Today, I keep my hoppin’ john fairly traditional but make it more festive by cutting in red, orange, yellow and green bell peppers to resemble New Year’s confetti. Plate it with the brilliant green collards and deep golden corn bread, and you have a meal that is as beautiful as it is delicious.

Here’s to a prosperous, healthy, happy new year with lots of good eating in 2013.

Print out a copy of Hoppin’ John and Rice for your convenience.