Maybe I'm old, but when I think of New Year's, I don't think of all the partying and drinking on New Year's Eve. Instead, I think of the black-eyed peas and greens my mother always fixed for lunch on New Year's Day. An old Southern tradition says that if you eat "peas and greens" on New Year's, you'll have luck and fortune throughout the coming year.

I feel very lucky and fortunate, so maybe it's working for me. In any case, I certainly don't want to tamper with success, so I'll be eating the traditional combo this Wednesday. What isn't always traditional is how I cook them. Last year, I wrote about some of the many different dishes I've made from black-eyed peas--inspired by international cuisines such as Nigerian, Korean, Indian, and Creole--with a couple of greens recipes thrown in for good measure.