Recipe(tried): New Year's Money and Luck Soup

NEW YEAR'S MONEY AND LUCK SOUP

This is a soup I created while in college 25 years ago to keep up my family tradition of back eyes peas and greens for money and the peas for luck on New Years day.

Soak black eye peas overnight.

Cover a ham bone with water; boil and let reduce.

Add black eye peas and let simmer for about 4 hours.

About 1 hour into cooking, chop up an onion and add to soup along with with garlic powder or 1/2 tsp chopped garlic. Reserve some chopped onion for last ten minutes of cooking when you will see meat fall off bone. Do not add extra salt, the ham seasons the soup.

The last 40 minutes of cooking add a large can of whole tomatoes chopped in quarters.

Twenty minutes before soup is finished add a bunch of fresh spinach or well drained frozen leaf spinach. Maintain some crunch in spinach.

The last 10 minutes of cooking add the reserved chopped onions.

Serve hot. Soup ages well and flavors meld together even better. May stored in the refrigerator up to 2 days or frozen for longer storage.

Happy New Year. May you find blessings, money, and luck in the coming years.