Cooking up a lucky start to the new year: Black-eyed Pea Soup with Thyme

Thyme and white wine add a little complexity to hearty black-eyed pea soup.

EATING BLACK-EYED PEAS ON NEW YEAR’S DAY has long been claimed to bring you good luck, especially in Southern culture. One possible explanation for the origin of their status as a good luck meal dates back to the Civil War. When Union soldiers advanced through the South, destroying food crops as they went to hasten the end of the war, they spared black-eyed pea plants, which they called cowpeas, apparently considering them merely livestock food.

Often, they’re cooked with greens—collard, mustard or turnip—and likely a smoked ham hock, smoked turkey or bacon, along with cornbread. For our version here, we used bacon, along with fresh thyme and a little white wine for what that brings to rustic dishes. Even if this soup doesn’t bring you luck in the year ahead, you’ll feel fortunate to be eating a delicious, warming soup. Happy new year, everyone. You’ll find our recipe here.