The first day of 2008. Happy New Year!

I have not been one to follow superstitious traditions, but today was all about black eyed peas and collard greens! I made two different dishes using the humble black eyed peas.

One was my take on Hoppin’ John, that southern favorite that combines collard greens (for financial luck), brown rice (for health) and black eyed peas (for warding off the evil eye and basic all around luck). David and I had that for lunch and I have to say what a hearty & warm meal. I served it with some garlic bagel crisps which was the perfect choice for this meal… although cornbread could have rocked it a bit harder, but I wasn’t about getting into baking at that point of the day.

The second dish was Quinoa & Black Eyed Pea Croquettes. I tried this recipe out of my Vegan with a Vengeancecookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. These little gems were super easy to make and were DEE-LISH!I did have to fudge with the recipe a bit (I always mess with recipes because, well, that’s how I am). I added garlic powder, onion powder and a bit more Braggs to the mixture…Oh yeah, I also used lime zest instead of lemon zest (because I was out of lemons) and I think these variations made them quite tasty!

The recipe consists of cooked quinoa, mashed black eyed peas, olive oil, braggs, lime zest and savory spices (thyme, basil, paprika…then my additions of garlic and onion powders). The mixture is then rolled into bite sized balls which is then rolled in an outer crust of bread crumbs mixed with a bit more oil.

I placed the balls in mini muffin tins, slightly smushing them down then baked them for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. They were golden brown and crispy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside.I will definitely be serving these up at my next catering gig!…and speaking of my next catering gig, I have been asked to cater the premiere viewing of Seeing Through The Fence, a documentary by Eleni Vlachos about what we think about the foods we eat and the relationship we have to our food, and leaves us considering why we eat animals.If you live in or near North Carolina you might want to reserve a seat as it has almost sold out.And on that note, I leave you with the happiest of new year wishes to you and yours…and I’ll let you know if I get lucky in 2008.