Easy New Year's Day Skillet Dinner

Easy New Year’s Day Skillet Dinner

Start off the new year right with an easy, meaningful, and memorable dinner. After a night of celebration, skip the oven and grab the skillet. We’ve gathered three recipes for you that are meant to bring good luck, health, and prosperity for the new year — a tradition steeped in many cultures around the world, according to Bonappetit.com.

1. Southern-style skillet dinner: All the ingredients in this one skillet meal historically offer a happy, prosperous upcoming year. For example, the leafy greens look like crumpled money that can increase your wealth. To make this dish, cook a few slices of bacon in your skillet. Crumble them up and set them aside. Sauté one small chopped onion until tender. Add in 2 cloves of minced garlic, a pinch of pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Stir in collard greens (stems removed and sliced) seasoned with salt and pepper. Add 1/4 cup of chicken broth and sauté until the liquid is almost evaporated. Stir in 1 can of rinsed and drained black-eyed peas and 1 1/4 cups of chopped, cooked chicken breast. Cook the mixture for 2 minutes. Add in 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar. Serve this dish over rice. Top with the crumbled bacon and shredded cheddar cheese.

2. Fried cabbage and bacon skillet dinner: Cabbage and pork symbolize financial abundance.  To make this super-easy skillet meal, start by crisping 6 slices of chopped bacon. Add in 1 large diced onion and 2 cloves of minced garlic. Cook and stir until the onion caramelizes in 10 minutes. Stir in 1 head of cored and sliced cabbage and sauté for 10 more minutes. Season with 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon each of onion and garlic powders, and a pinch of paprika. Cover the skillet and let the dish simmer. Stir occasionally for about 30 more minutes.

3. Kale, sausage, lentil skillet dinner: Italians eat lentils on New Year’s because they look like Roman coins, which symbolize wealth and prosperity. Opt for fresh brown lentils or French green (which stay firm after cooking) and clean them thoroughly before cooking. Start by browning sliced sausage links in the skillet. Remove them from the pan and sauté a diced onion until it's browned. Add garlic, crushed red pepper, water, and wine. Bring this to a boil. Add lentils and simmer, covered, for at least 40 minutes. Add kale, sage and salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until lentils and kale are tender. Stir in the sausage and season to taste. For softer kale, put it in at the same time you’re cooking the lentils.

Log onto Foodlion.com to find more easy skillet dinners, including Ramen Steak Skillet and Easy Skillet Chicken Parm.