With the ringing in of each New Year, it is tradition for many cultures around the world to eat certain foods and dishes in order to bring various forms of luck to their lives for the new year. Well, while New Year’s celebrations may be coming to an end, that doesn’t mean you can’t still snack your way into luck for weeks and months to follow. Whether the food is supposed to bring wealth, personal growth, health – I’ve got you covered on some of the most popular “good luck” dishes in their most delicious vegan form! Each dish will have you with a whole lot of good things coming in 2013 – or at least with a very full belly of healthyvegan  goodness.

Long Noodle Dish

In many countries around the world, the chowing down on long noodles of all kinds signifies a long life for the snacker. A fun twist on this tradition is to serve spaghetti squash (hey, veggie noodles count, too, right?!) straight from the squash.

Baked Cinnamon Spaghetti Squash – Serves 8 – 10

Ingredients:

• 3 Spaghetti Squashes
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions:

• Wash the squashes, cut in half, and bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.
• After they have been removed from your oven and cooled, remove the seeds from the inner “noodle” of the squash.
• Add a tablespoon of olive oil and a touch of cinnamon to each core.
• Eat this delicious dish right from the squash!

Round Fruits

The eating of round fruits is commonly connected with coin – that’s right, serve up some fruit at your party, and you will be rollin’ in the dough in 2013 (or you’ll get a big boost of vitamins, at least). Try this recipe for delicious stuffed tomatoes (tomatoes ARE a fruit!).

Mushroom and Tahini-Stuffed Tomatoes- Yields 5 servings

Ingredients:

• 5 small roma tomatoes
• 5 teaspoons quinoa
• 5 teaspoons tahini
• Several cups Romaine lettuce
• 1 cup chopped mushrooms

Preparation:

• Wash and then core tomatoes.
• Cook quinoa according to package instructions.
• When quinoa is cooked, add in chopped mushrooms, shredded romaine lettuce, and two tablespoons of tahini. Stir well.
• Cook on low for five minutes, making sure the mushroom juices blend with the tahini (if you stir frequently, this should happen!)
• Spoon quinoa mixture into cored tomatoes.
• Bake tomatoes at 375 for 15  minutes.
• Add a small dollop of tahini and romaine on top of each tomato as a beautiful garnish.

Black Eyed Peas

Because black-eyed peas look a whole lot like pennies, the consumption of this protein-rich legume in the New Year is supposed to bring prosperity and abundance for the New Year. Try this twist on hummus for a delicious and different snack.

Black Eyed Pea Hummus – 8 – 10 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 cups cooked black-eyed peas
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• ½ cup tahini
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground basil
• 1 tablespoon water

Preparation:

Just before serving (wait as long as you can to prep this – hummus is best served fresh), blend all ingredients in food processor. Serve up with chopped carrots, cucumbers, celery, and broccoli.

Cornbread

Apparently, you’re going to hit the big bucks next year! Cornbread’s rich golden color mirrors that of gold – try this recipe for sweet brown sugar red pepper cornbread bites.

Brown Sugar Pepper Cornbread – Yields 18 cornbread “bites”

Ingredients:

• 1 cup corn meal
• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 mini sweet red peppers, finely chopped
• 1 ½ cups almond milk

Preparation:

• Mix all dry ingredients and then add almond milk and peppers.
• Bake mixture at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until edges brown.
• Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then cut bread into bite-size squares.
• Serve on a platter and enjoy!

Lentils

For their green color and coin shape, these little guys are supposed to symbolize growing wealth and health for the New Year. Keep yourself warm in the cold New Year’s Eve weather with some German mustard lentil soup. The German mustard gives this soup an unexpected kick, and this soup completely warms your home with the smell of mustard seed and hearty green lentils. This soup will also be a perfect accompaniment to the cornbread – try them together.

German Mustard Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups green lentils
• 1 cup German mustard
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup corn
• 1 cup peas
• 1 cup broccoli
• 2 chopped carrots
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• 1 tablespoon oregano

Preparation:

• Cook lentils (rinse well and then simmer in plenty of water for about an hour) in large pot.
• Drain lentils; rinse well.
• Add in vegetable broth and all vegetables and spices. Stir well, making sure there are no mustard “clumps” left in the broth.
• Bring to a boil; then, reduce heat to low and cook soup for at least 30 minutes.
• Add more mustard to taste. Salt and pepper to taste before serving. Serve next to small bowls for guests.

With these New Year dishes and snacks, you’ll have one festive, flavorful vegan feast that’ll keep you full in the weeks to come, long after the New Year’s hurrah has passed. Happy New Year!