Eat these ‘lucky’ foods on New Year’s Day

Everyone knows that the New Year’s dinner plate is usually filled with foods that are considered to bring luck and prosperity.

But do you know what foods are traditionally considered lucky?

Here’s a guide to help enlighten and delight.

The Southern Trifecta

Why it’s considered lucky: All represent wealth and good fortune: collards are dollar bills, peas are coins and cornbread is gold

Traditional preparation: Collards are boiled and seasoned with bits of pork belly, ham hock or smoked turkey neck. For Hoppin John, the peas seasoned with ham, onion and garlic, and brought to a boil until just tender, then drained (save the liquid) and into the same pot, bacon, another onion, celery and bell pepper are sauteed until tender, water added and brought to a boil, rice added and simmered and the peas added back in (and some of the reserved liquid) after the rice is done. Cornbread is always done properly in a cast iron skillet. Hot sauce goes with everything.

Try this twist: Festive Good Luck Cornbread Skillet, from Martha White, combines everything into one dish served in a cast iron skillet. Recipe, 5C

Circular cakes and cookies

Why it’s considered lucky: Round things are considered lucky because they symbolize coming full circle. Cookies symbolize coins. Both are hope for a sweeter new year.

Traditional preparation: Think along the lines of the Mardi Gras King Cakes. These cakes can have a small trinket (Baby New Year) or coin baked inside; the person finding the trinket or coin will have the most luck in the coming year.

Try this twist: Vasilopita is a rich, lemon and almond cake that is the traditional Greek New Year’s Day bread. Serve it like a coffee cake. Recipe, 5C

Noodles

Why it’s considered lucky: The longer the noodle – slurped, not chewed – the longer the life

Traditional preparation: Pick a favorite pasta dish – like spaghetti, or soba noodles

Try this twist: Spicy Pan-Fried Noodles are easy to make and starts the New Year off with some zing. Recipe, 5C

Filling

Topping

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut sausage in half lengthwise; cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. Combine sausage, onion and garlic in 12-inch cast iron or ovenproof skillet; cook until sausage is browned and onion is tender, stirring occasionally.

Add all remaining filling ingredients, mix well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer 10 minutes.

Combine all topping ingredients in large bowl, stir until smooth. Pour batter around edge of sausage mixture in skillet.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Garnish with sour cream, pickled jalapeno chile slices and fresh parsley or cilantro leaves, if desired.

Martha White

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a 10-inch round tube pan or two cake pans.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda and set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add lemon juice and combine. Add one third of the flour mixture to the batter, mix until just combined, then add half of the milk and mix to just combined. Continue with flour and milk, ending with flour. Mix well. Pour batter into prepared cake pan.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove cake from oven and sprinkle the nuts and 2 tablespoons sugar over the cake, then return cake to oven and bake for 20 to 30 additional minutes, until cake springs back to the touch. Remove cake from oven and let cool. Gently cut a small hole in the cake and insert a quarter (or small trinket). Place cake on platter and serve.

Serve warm.

Allrecipes.com

In a small bowl, combine the scallions, soy sauce, ginger, rice wine or vinegar, sesame oil and salt. Let stand while you prepare the noodles.

In a large pot of boiling water, cook noodles until they are halfway done according to package instructions. (They should still be quite firm.) Drain well and toss with 1/2 tablespoon of the peanut oil to keep them from sticking, and spread them out on a plate or baking sheet.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons of peanut oil. Add the garlic and cook until crisp and golden around the edges, 1 to 2 minutes. Add half the scallion mixture and stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add noodles; stir-fry until noodles are hot and lightly coated with sauce, about 30 seconds. Add eggs, spinach or edamame if using, sriracha, and remaining scallion mixture and continue to stir-fry until the eggs are cooked, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice. Garnish with cilantro and sesame seeds or peanuts.

Melissa Clark, New York Times

This story was originally published December 22, 2015 at 10:48 AM.