They’re not only lucky, but delicious.

My family blended New Year’s traditions.

My dad grew up in the South, and he likes to have black-eyed peas on the table.

Vegan Stew Recipe

Erin Alderson

And my family is super-duper lucky.

We’re all healthy and we eat fabulous food.

I can only wish the same for you.

Hoppin John

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

They’re also darned tasty.

Often Hoppin' John includes pork, another lucky food.

Southern Style Collard Greens

Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas

Why collard greens?

BEST cowboy caviar

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

The reason I’ve always heard is that they’re green, resembling paper money.

I’d like to think they’re good luck because they’re so dang good for you.

Mustard or turnip greens fit the bill as well.

Overhead view of a bowl of collard greens and pot liquor.

Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas

Braised with a ham hock, they offer a luxurious potlikker for dunking your cornbread in.

For a faster-cooking vegetarian version, try theseeasy collard greens.

Smoked turkey wings give it a leaner profile without sacrificing depth.

Bowl of Collard Greens Next to an Instant Pot

Simply Recipes / Sharee Hill

Bake this rustic cornbread to round out your Southern New Year’s trifecta of black-eyed peas and collards.

It makes a fine meal any time of year.

You’ll even see it on buffets at big catered New Year’s Eve parties in the Midwest.

Southern Cornbread in a Skillet with a Piece Cut Out and Another Piece on a Plate

Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas

The saying goes that pigs root forward, symbolizing your year moving ahead into high gear.

Sauerkraut

Simply Recipes / Melanie Tienter

8.

Spareribs, Cabbage, and Sauerkraut

For the optimal pork and sauerkraut experience, cook them together.

A sliced pork roast on a platter with roasted apples and carrots

Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas

The mingling of the porky juices with the piquant kraut is a thing of beauty…flavor-wise.

It’s not very pretty, but so many of the best foods aren’t.

The two ingredients have an affinity for each other in this hearty lentil stew.

Bowl of Sauerkraut on a Counter with Jars of Sauerkraut Behind It

Simply Recipes / Melanie Tienter

Smoky Lentil Stew

Simply Recipes / Erin Alderson

Leave out the sausage for a plant-based New Year’s luck.

The smoky flavor here comes from smoked paprika.

There were a dozen of us, and we had marathon board games and sessions of hide-and-seek.

A braised spare rib over a bowl of sauerkraut

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

There’s no one definitive vasilopita recipe, and many families have their own cherished version.

This moist clementine cake would make a fine host for that coin.

It’s also okay tobreak the pomegranate apartless dramatically.

Lentil Sausage Stew

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Once you’ve cleaned up, de-seed the rest of the pomegranate and make this salad with golden beets.

The salad itself isn’t Greek, but it’s so colorful it would be welcome on any table.

In any case, no one turns down donuts, do they?

A bowl of ham and bean soup

Simply Recipes

In Scandinavia, pickled herring at midnight rings in the new year.

In many Asian countries, whole fish symbolize abundance.

An iced cake made with clementine on a platter with a slice taken out

Simply Recipes / Cambrea Gordon

A platter of golden beet and pomegranate salad over baby arugula

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Stack of Glazed Donuts with the Top Donut Covered in Sprinkles, and Leaning Next to the Stack, a Glazed Donut with a Bite Missing, All on a Platter. In the Background, a Two Mugs of Coffee and Another Platter of Glazed Donuts

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Overhead view of a steamed whole fish on a flatter and topped with sauce and herbs.

Simply Recipes / Uyen Luu