“I don’t think I ever had a New Year’s Day when my mom didn’t make sure we all had helpings of peas and greens,” says James Beard Award–winning chef Ashley Christensen. Now, each year for the duration of January, the menu at Christensen’s Poole’s Diner includes her own spin on the classic combo—a superb single-dish version she simply calls Luck and Money. You may remember it as one of John T. Edge’s favorite restaurant dishes of the year in our December/January issue, and as luck would have it, Christensen was kind enough to share the recipe, a zingy blend of collards stewed in cider vinegar, seasoned with onions, garlic, and a hint of heat, and stirred with field peas.
A Recipe for Luck and Money
Yield: Serves 6-8
Ingredients
1/4 cup canola oil
1 yellow onion, minced
2 lbs. collard greens, stemmed and chopped*
1 tsp. red pepper flakes, toasted. (Toast the pepper flakes in a dry sauté pan over medium heat, tossing constantly until they become aromatic.)
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups cooked peas (Use your favorite field pea.)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. roasted garlic butter**
Sea salt to taste
Fresh cracked pepper to taste
Preparation
- Warm canola oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Next, add onion and cook until translucent. Add chopped greens, and stir to mix with onion and oil. Season lightly with sea salt and toasted pepper flakes. Stir for 2 minutes to allow the seasoning to permeate the ingredients. Add white wine, and cook the contents of the pot (still over medium heat), stirring every few minutes. Cook until tender, about 30-40 minutes.
- Once greens are tender, stir in cooked peas and cider vinegar. Bring to a simmer and season with roasted garlic butter, sea salt, and cracked pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 more minutes, allowing all of the ingredients to incorporate.
Recipe from chef Ashley Christensen of Poole’s Diner in Raleigh, North CarolinaChef’s tip: *Stems in greens are a matter of preference. I like them both ways, but I also love to pickle the stems separately for garnishing deviled eggs, or Bloody Marys…anything that likes a pickle. **Roasted garlic butter is made by mixing soft, roasted garlic cloves into soft butter in a ratio of 1:8, so 1 tablespoon of roasted garlic to 1 stick of butter. It’s great for finishing sauces and vegetables. If you prefer, you may just use plain butter. If using plain butter, and a couple of cloves of crushed fresh garlic in with the onion.