Happy New Year 2016!
In the Italian tradition, lentils-sausage stew was our New Year’s food for luck. It seems across the continents good luck is thought to be prosperity, good health, happiness, success and longevity. We aren’t Italian, we wanted to try another tradition to celebrate the New Year’s. It would be interesting to prepare the New Year’s evening menu recipes from around the world which are noted to be Lucky New Year’s Food.Here is my suggestion for your 2017 New Year’s Menu celebration.
Italy: Cotechino con Lenticcjie, pork and lentils
American South: Black-eyes peas, Hoppin’ John, cooked greens
Japan: Toshikoshi Soba, long buckwheat noodles
Ireland Buttered Bread Sandwiches
Spain: 12 grapes referring to Champagne
Berlin: Berliner Pfannkuchen, jelly doughnuts
Greece: Vasilopita, a New Year’s Cake with a coin hidden in it. The person getting the coin will have good luck all year.
Slow Cooker Red Lentils-Sausage Stew
Slow Cookers or Crock-Pot cooking are great for winter hearty stews, soups or casseroles. Red Lentils-Sausage Stew is a good example of easy meal preparation. We had a romaine tossed salad, crusty garlic bread, Cinnamon Apple Sauce and Brown Sugar Marble Pound Cake om/crock-for desert. No Champagne, however, we did have some Soft White Wine by Oliver’s Winery. It was a quiet and satisfying New Year’s Eve. Looking forward to 2016 offerings.
Slow Cooker Red Lentils-Sausage Stew
Ingredients
- 1/2 sausage remove casing and crumble, or crumble whole sausage
- 1 cup red lentils rinse
- 1/2 cup onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 cup carrots coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup celery coarsely chopped
- 1 medium potato chopped in 1/2 inch cubes
- 14.5 oz tomatoes and juice
- 1 cup frozen cut spinach
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Layer all the vegetables on the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Add the crumbled sausage.
- Pour in the broth and water.
- Add the seasonings and stir into the broth.
- Cover, cook on high for 3 hours.
Notes
Wishing you many blessings during 2016: healthy lives, friends, safety and joys in abundance.