Luck Be A Lentil

Well, it?s that time on the calendar that has everyone making lists and resolves for lofty ideals of soup and salad-only meals after the impossibly gluttonous Season?s Eatings.  I know that between the cold (I need comfort food!) and the "It?s The Holidays! Have Another Cookie!" built-in excuses, I am ready to emerge from my food coma/cocoon, from the two-month long butter/sugar/cheese assault?and am seriously considering juicing for a week so I can wear pants with zippers again.  I?m sure you have no clue what I?m talking about, right?  What would New Year?s be without the opportunity to forget the past and begin again with a clean, green start?  And, while we?re at it, eat something that just might improve our fortune, too?  There are a variety of foods that are believed to be ?lucky? which are traditionally consumed around the world on January 1st to improve the odds that the upcoming year will be prosperous.  In Spain, for example, New Year?s revelers eat 12 grapes (for each stroke of the clock) at midnight.  Since my grandmother?s parents were from Spain, I, too, carry on this ritual?but I cheat and take my grapes all at once, pressed, fermented and bubbling in a tall Champagne flute when the ball drops.  Cooked greens and legumes are also popular symbols of financial reward?the greens look like folded money and beans, peas and lentils resemble coins as they swell when cooked.  The Danes have their stewed kale, The Germans, their sauerkraut, and Southerners, we love us some collards and black-eyed peas.

But it was my husband who introduced me to eating lentils for luck (eschewing the southern must of black-eyed peas is not a sacrifice for me, sorry).  It?s a very Italian thing (often served with pork since pigs symbolize progress) and that became part of his New Year?s tradition after living in Rome for so many years.  Spoiler: This is me still green with envy of that pre-Cheryl life in the Eternal City [sigh].

So, it?s a warm, spicy soup with lentils and Italian sausage to ring in 2011 for us.  And, if you?re superstitious (and who isn?t to some degree?  Black cats, no walking under ladders, broken mirrors?) you may not want to tempt fate on 1-1-11 (betcha all those 1?s have numerologists buzzing).  So, whether you feel the tug of eating better after the holiday bender or you want to ensure your happenstance this first of January, eat your lentils this way.  Oh, and by the way, this soup will be the most delicious start to what I hope will be your best year yet, lucky you?all fat and happy.  Er, your bank account, I mean.