New Year’s Stew
The new year is just a few days away people! That means it is time for all of you to plan on what you’ll be cooking. Now, if you own my cookbook you would know that I have a pretty killer Hoppin’ John Stew which is perfect for the occasion. However, because all of you don’t own my book (which makes me cry), I decided that I should have another perfect recipe for ringing in the new year available on the blog. And this is it…My New Year’s Stew! This recipe is hearty, wholesome, and chock full of good luck. Basically, if you make this stew and eat it on New Year’s Day, you will have a fabulous year where you makes lots of money and invite endless amounts of joy and positivity into your life. I know.. this is a big deal.
WHAT IS NEW YEAR’S STEW?
For any of you non-southerners out there, let me fill you in! You’re supposed to eat black-eyed peas and greens for good luck in the new year. Think of it as a symbol for wealth and success to come into your life. Some say the greens represent money and the black-eyed peas represent pennies (wait a minute, pennies? Can’t we shoot higher than that!?). Others say to eat cornbread as it represents gold. I honestly don’t even need a reason to eat any of these things because I love them all. You ain’t gotta tell me twice to eat no damn peas with rice, tender greens, and cornbread! Please.
I grew up eating Camellia beans and black-eyed peas, so they are very nostalgic to me. Funny enough, the packaging hasn’t changed since I was a little boy. Feel free to buy your peas from the bulk section, if you’d like, and if purchasing canned peas, I try to buy organic and non-BPA lined cans. If you’d like to try making them from scratch, keep scrolling and I will tell you exactly how I do it. Luckily, black-eyed peas are super easy because they don’t take long to cook at all.
KEY INGREDIENTS FOR NEW YEAR’S STEW
Now let’s talk a little bit more about this stew: I strayed away from using too many herbs. I really wanted the flavor of the cabbage and peas to shine through. This stew is loaded with large chunks of vegetables so it has a lot of variation in texture when eating and this makes it very hearty and satisfying. For the protein, you can add some of your favorite store-bought vegan sausage or you could add some roasted mushrooms. This year, I opted for cremini mushrooms which I thickly sliced, tossed in a skillet with some oil, tamari, nutritional yeast, and liquid smoke and roasted until they became rich in color and flavor. Don’t worry, the full recipe is below.
Moving right along, see those big chunks of cabbage? Don’t worry, they become tender and succulent once cooked. This is the perfect contrast to large chunks of boiled potatoes and dark green strips of collard greens. The black-eyed peas provide little plump pops of texture and flavor. When serving soups and stews, I always like to sprinkle on top some sea salt and pepper for an extra kick of flavor to enhance the dish. Parsley and sliced green onions or chives are also very welcome.
TIPS & TRICKS
You’ll notice here a sliced jalapeño! That is totally optional but I think it’s quite nice as it provides a little tickle of spice. You’ll also notice that I cut the carrots into large chunks, as well as the celery. For the onion, I opted for thick slices. You could chop these up any way you’d like. I just love the look and feel of big beautiful chunks. It’s nice to have something to sink your teeth into. Especially with a stew.
Full disclosure, this recipe makes a ridiculous amount. Like, soccer mom with 5 kids kinda gig. If you do not have a very large pot (around 7.25 quarts), you will most definitely need to halve this recipe. I would say it feeds close to 12 people. Now, if you do make the whole batch, it does keep nicely in the fridge for a few days and you can also freeze it!
I also wanted to point out that I call for cherry tomatoes in this New Year’s Stew. I think they are just lovely in this! They basically melt into the dish, upping the umami while also providing a burst of acidity that really wakes everything up. While the stew is cooking, I like to also roast the mushrooms and bake off a batch of my ‘Easy Baked Rice‘ in the oven. By the time the soup is done, the mushrooms will be ready to throw in and the rice will be fluffy. (I also highly recommend whipping up a batch of cornbread to go with this- it’s a really nice addition!)
PREPARING THE PEAS NEW YEAR’S STEW
Before we dive in, you can totally use canned peas for this. I’ve also even seen freshly steamed black-eyed peas available at the store as well, which you could use. But I will always usually go for cooking my own. If you ask me, cooking dried peas and beans can be quite therapeutic. Sorting, rinsing, soaking- I love it! Of course, they also taste better than canned and rightfully so. You showed them some extra TLC and any pea or bean will appreciate that. Some require more time to soak and take longer to cook, so these instructions may vary for other varieties. Right now, let’s just focus on black-eyed peas, as they take less time to soak and cook than most and we’re using them in the new year’s stew.
I like to soak my peas overnight. First, sort through them and remove any weird pieces or anything other than peas. Then cover the peas with a few inches of water. This allows the water to slowly absorb into the peas which allows them to cook evenly and more quickly. This also draws out some of the phytic acid, which can cause bloating. If you are strapped for time but would still like to do this, you can do a quick soak. Simply throw the beans in a medium-sized pot and cover with an inch or two of water. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Cover with the lid and let the peas steep for 30 minutes. Drain the peas and rinse them well.
COOKING THE PEAS FOR THIS NEW YEAR’S STEW
To cook, transfer the drained peas back to the pot and cover with fresh water. Throw in a piece of kombu (dried seaweed- for flavor and to help aid in digestion), a bay leaf or two, a good drizzling of olive oil, black pepper and salt, and bring to a boil. (Some would say that adding the salt now makes the peas tough but I have made them both ways with these peas and I can’t notice a difference. Up to you…) Once to a boil, remove the kombu and reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring every so often until the peas are tender. Done!
(Hot tip: you can use some of this delicious broth in the stew. Just swap it out with some of the water called for.) If you do not want to use all of the peas in this dish, you can store any leftovers in a tightly sealed container with the cooking liquid for a few days in the fridge.
WANT TO TRY OTHER SOUPS & STEWS?
I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS NEW YEAR’S STEW
Aside from all of the luck and tradition, this new year’s stew was also inspired from a recipe my mama would make for my father. It was basically braised cabbage with potatoes and sausage, a Polish classic. (If you didn’t know I am part Polish, now you do.) And now this very recipe has become a New Year’s classic for myself (and many of you!). So go grab you some ingredients and make a big ole pot of stew. Share it with your friends and family and ring in the New Year fabulously. Happy cooking, y’all.
Timothy
New Year’s Stew
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried black-eyed peas or 3-4 cans cooked, drained and rinsed
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped or sliced
- 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 small jalapeño, sliced
- 1 heaping cup chopped celery, large chunks
- 1 heaping cup chopped carrots, large chunks
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped or sliced
- 3 cups new potatoes or baby red potatoes, cut into large chunks
- 1 small head green cabbage, roughly chopped into chunks (about 8 cups)
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 2 teaspoons vegetable bouillon base, i.e. Better Than Bouillon no-chicken or garlic base
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, less or more, if desired
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, rinsed and halved
- 14 oz plant-based sausage, your favorite or 1 pound sliced mushrooms*
- 9 cups spring or filtered water
- 3 cups roughly chopped collard greens, de-stemmed, if desired
- Easy Baked Rice, to serve
- Freshly chopped chives, green onions, or parsley, to garnish
Roasted Mushrooms
- 1 pound desired mushrooms, i.e. cremini, shiitake, trumpet, or button
- 3 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- Salt and pepper, a sprinkle
- ½ teaspoon ground sage
- 1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary, optional
- 2-3 small fresh sage leaves, optional
Instructions
- If you are using dried peas, you will need to soak and cook them. Refer to the recipe card below to see how I do this. If you are using canned peas, simply open ‘em up and give them a good rinse. Set aside. (If using roasted mushrooms and baked rice, get those in the oven now so they can cook while making the soup.)
- In a large pot (at least 7.25 quarts), add onions, bell peppers, jalapeño (if using), celery, carrots and a good drizzle of olive oil. Season with a few pinches of sea salt and pepper. Bring to medium heat and cook for about 7 minutes, until the vegetables become tender and juicy, stirring every so often.
- Next add in the garlic, potatoes, cabbage, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, vinegar, tamari, sea salt, bouillon paste, pepper and red pepper flakes. Give it a good mix and cover for a few minutes until the cabbage starts to wilt. Mix and cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring every so often, until everything is soft and tender and it smells delicious.
- Add the sausage (if using), tomatoes, black-eyed peas and water. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Cook at a low simmer with a cracked lid, stirring every so often, for about 20 to 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender to fork. Once done, throw in the collard greens and cook for an additional 5 minutes, until they become tender. If using roasted mushrooms, add those in now, as well.
- To serve, ladle the stew into bowls and garnish with fluffy white rice, freshly chopped herbs, and a sprinkling of sea salt and black pepper. Hot sauce is welcome!
Roasted Mushrooms
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Thickly slice or roughly chop desired mushrooms and toss into a large skillet or on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Toss with olive oil, nutritional yeast, tamari, liquid smoke, salt and pepper, ground sage, and fresh sage and rosemary. Mix well and roast for 45-50 minutes, until rich in color and reduced in size. This can also be made while the rice is baking which is also cooked at 350 for the same amount of time.
Notes
Preparing Dried Black Eyed Peas
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried black eyed peas
- A pinch salt and pepper
- 1 strip kombu, about 1 inch by 2 inches
Instructions
There are two options for hydrating the beans: overnight or quick soak.
- For overnight soaking, in a large pot, place the beans and cover with a few inches of water. In the morning, drain and rinse.
- If you are doing a quick soak, pour the beans in a large sized pot with a lid and cover with water. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Cover with the lid and let peas steep for 30 minutes. Drain and rinse well.
- Once rehydrated, transfer back into the pot and cover with fresh water.
- Throw in the kombu, a bay leaf, a drizzle of olive oil, and a pinch of black pepper and salt.
- Once to a boil, remove the kombu and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for about 30 minutes stirring every so often.
Wow!!! As usual, no adjustments needed although I changed slightly mainly due to produce on hand. I use dried legumes from Rancho Gordo and I never feel a need to cook those prior to adding to a recipe as long as I soak appropriately. Black eyed peas were done to perfection at end of timeline provided. I had sweet potatos on hand so I substituted those for red potatoes-I added lightly later in process. Thank you, Tim, for yet another flavor BOMB!! Absolutely phenomenal!!
Hello, friend! So happy to hear! Thanks for letting me know and happy new year.
Really looking forward to trying this recipe. I also have your book with the Hoppin John stew recipe. The recipes are slightly different, however, I noticed in the book you do not pre-cook the Black Eyed Peas with combo and Bayleaf as you do in this post. I wanted to add the kombu and bay leaf to the book recipe and was wondering at what point would I add and remove the kombu in the book recipe? Thank you so much for your very healthy recipes. I’m trying!
Hey Holly! I would add the kombu when you add the peas and then remove it when it comes to a boil (you don’t want to cook kombu in boiling water for too long or it can make it slimy!). To make things easy, I like to add the bay leaves and kombu at the same time and then remove them together. Happy cooking and thank you for the support!
I made this today (and yesterday: roasting mushrooms and soaking beans) … it is a fantastic meal. Kudos!
Hey Cat! Thanks for letting me know– that’s great to hear. Happy New Year!
This was sooo good. Made it exactly to the recipe, but used the Beyond Hot Italian sausages like you suggested (I’ll try the mushrooms next time). Thank you for this recipe! I really like your method of layering flavors. The succotash stew from your book is one of my favorites too.
Molly! Thank you so much for this lovely comment. So happy to hear you are liking my recipes. Happy cooking!
I’ve made the hoppin John recipe from your cookbook several times, but this year I was pinched for time and used frozen black eyed peas and did it in a crockpot. The peas never really got soft and I’m not sure why. Could you offer some insight?
Hi there! Hmm, I wonder if the beans just needed to be cooked a bit longer. I’m wondering if they were brought to boil separately and then added if that would have helped. I believe frozen peas are just quickly blanched as opposed to canned, which are thoroughly cooked. I’m hoping they eventually softened up! Hope this helps and happy new year!
This was outstanding! I almost never leave blog comments but this was too good. I won’t even be sad that we’ll have to eat this for every meal for a week to polish it off!
Well, I am so glad that you did, Heather! This comment made my day. I hope that you have a fabulous new year! Happy cooking and all my best, t
This was absolutely delicious. The leftovers were gone the next day after breakfast! Half of us are vegetarian, the other half are not. I was raised in New York by a mother from Brooklyn and a father from small town Alabama (I always favored the southern side). A new years didn’t go by without collards, black eyed peas and corn bread on the table, as well as throughout the year.
I love your recipes. Thank you.
Hi Lu! Thank you for the sweet comment. Big smiles over here! Happy cooking!