mess of greens: southern food & hospitality: Lucky Soup with Black Eyed Peas, Greens, and Bacon

By now, y'all know that I'm not going to let a New Year's Day pass without eating Black eyed peas and greens in SOME form or fashion for luck and money in the New Year... I've made pickled peas, black eyed pea hummus, and this year, I combined the two good-luck foods with pork (a German good-luck food) into a spicy, warm soup. I had some friend over...one of whom asked, "wait, what's the deal with this soup? is it really eaten for luck?"

In short, the peas are tied to southern history... they were introduced to the south from West or North Africa and are an ancient food eaten on that continent and also across Asia. Either way you tell it, eating BEP on New Year's Day dates back to the Civil War. Black eyed peas are undoubtedly an important ingredient in some soul-food dishes, so while there are multiple stories about WHY we eat the peas (from the White Southern Community AND the African American Southern community) exist, I think that the history of BEP as a soul-food staple gives credence to that legend. The way the history goes, the only thing many slaves had to eat on the first day of January were these peas because they were one of the few crops left in the winter fields since the Union armies and Slave-owners thought of them as livestock feed. That day in 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, outlawing slavery and these peas were consumed. From then on, they've been considered good luck for the future.

Thinking that BEPs are tied not only to good luck but also to a major milestone for freedom and justice in our country makes me even more committed to eating them and looking ahead on the year and what it can bring! Read on for yet another way to have your luck (and for a generally warm, hearty soup for winter time!)

If you're using dried black eyed peas, the first step begins the night before you plan to make the soup...dump the peas out and sift through them for any beans that have been eaten through or are a darker or redder brown... i don't think they'll hurt you but it's better to get rid of them in the beginning. Once that's done, rinse them in a collander and then soak the dried peas in enough water to cover them and then a little bit more. The peas will soak up the water and hydrate, making them soft enough to cook and eat. If you use canned or frozen peas you can skip both of these first steps... and if you forget (heaven forbid!) to overnight soak your peas, then you can do a "quick soak" by putting them in a pot of salted, boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Honestly, I worried that I hadn't used enough water in my overnight soak, so I did about a 2 minute boil of the peas anyway... the "quick soak" method doesn't really hurt anything, BUT, beware, it does mean that you'll end up with more half-peas or peas without the thin casing that holds the two halved together since the boiling water tends to rub that off more easily.

Once your peas are softened or softening, it's time to cook the bacon! Pork has some sort of lucky significance for Germans, plus bacon just goes SO WELL with peas and turnip greens that it makes sense that we'd cook our veggies in all that flavor. Put the bacon in your pot and cook until brown...

While that's happening, take the time to dice up your vegetables. Celery, onion, garlic, green bell pepper, and jalepeno pepper were what I used, but you could substitute red bell pepper and chipotle pepper if you wanted a litte bit different look and flavor here..