I’ve been told that black-eyed peas eaten on New Year’s Day is supposed to bring luck and prosperity. I walked into the New Year with quite a bit more blessings than expected, but I wanted to make sure I got an extra helping of luck and prosperity for 2010.

It’s almost the end of January, Time Warner is threatening to turn off my cable (Truly, I don’t know how cable got so expensive!), and I figure I need to claim my prosperity ticket. So, I cooked up a dee-licious Black-eyed Peas Casserole. You have got to try it!

Ingredients
• 1 pound ground beef, turkey, whatever suits your fancy
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 cups cooked black-eyed peas or from the can is just as good (I swear!)
• 1 medium jalapeno, diced
• 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (10-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (10-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 (10-ounce) can mild enchilada sauce (You can even use Salsa)
• A few dashes of hot sauce (I use a Scotch bonnet mixture my momma gave me…)
• 2 Tblspn Seasoning salt (Should/could include: paprika, salt, garlic powder, Black pepper, onion powder, cayenne, dried oregano, and thyme)
• About 10-16 corn tortillas
• Butter
• 2 cups grated cheddar
• Chopped green onions or sour cream for garnish

Directions
Brown the ground meat in a very large skillet. Add to the browned meat, the onion, garlic, jalapeno and your seasoning salt mixture. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until the onion has softened. Add the peas, tomatoes, mushroom soup, chicken soup and enchilada sauce. Add a few dashes of hot sauce. Simmer until warm, about 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Tear the tortillas into large pieces. Grease the bottom of a large casserole dish with butter and then line the bottom with the torn tortilla pieces. Spoon on the ground beef mixture into a thin layer and then add a layer of cheese. Add another layer of tortillas and repeat with the meat mixture, finishing with a layer of cheese on top. Cover the casserole dish with foil to prevent the cheese from burning and place in the oven. Cook for 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and eat your fill of luck and prosperity.
Oh! Garnish with chopped green onion or sour cream.

Try it and let me know what you think.

THOMAS JEFFERSON:
I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.