Now that the rich foods, sugary treats and other excesses of the holiday season are coming to a close, it seems the perfect time for a more basic menu of easy to procure items.

It remains just about impossible to bring in the New Year without the mention of these simple foods that provide a context for a comfortable meal that is as easy to prepare for four as it is for 50!

Beans and rice were a staple growing up in Charleston. All over the Lowcountry, this was a meal fit for every day or fit for a king! There are countless porcelain and silver vessels, tureens, bowls as well as specialty silver flatware made specifically for serving this iconic Southern meal.

We always made more than we needed as this is even better the next day. This recipe will serve 12.

Beginning the night before, my great aunt would rinse and clean a bag of dried beans. She used black eyed peas exclusively for this. She would then place them in cold water and let them sit overnight. When the morning came, she would drain the beans and remove any that were “bad.”

The beans were then placed in a large pot and covered again with cold water. She would also add a half handful of salt and of pepper. She would make a sachet of bay leaves, peppercorns and a few pieces of rosemary that she would place inside a square of muslin, tie with a string, and toss into the pot. Also added was a thick piece of salted pork or thick cut bacon.

Heating the beans to boiling and then cutting them back to a simmer ensured that by dinner time (12:30-1 p.m.) the beans would be tender, silky and fragrant. They need to cook two hours or so to be at their best.

Using enough water to cover the beans completely ensured there would be enough “pot liquor” to pour over the rice.

When making the rice, we always used local rice given to us by friends near the Ace Basin. I now know that as Carolina Gold, but as a child, it was just longgrain, white rice that we ate every day.

My grandmother’s way of making rice is just the way I make it today. Use the amount of water listed on the bag of rice you purchase. Try to find Carolina Gold if you can, as I think you will love it — and it absorbs the pot liquor from the beans better than other types of rice.

Add a sachet of bay leaves and the sliced rind of half a lemon to the water as it begins to boil. Leave it in until the rice is ready. Once you remove the sachet, add a pat of butter for every two servings you are making.

Slightly stir the cooked rice in the pot allowing the butter to melt. Add salt and pepper. Turn off the heat completely, put the lid on the pot and allow it to sit, off the burner, for about 10 minutes before serving.

Place the beans and the rice in separate covered entree dishes to serve — silver ones if you have them.

Cover the rice with beans and pot liquor when plating. Serve with pork roast or lamb chops.

Many times we just had beans and rice with one of the last tomatoes from our garden. It rarely freezes in Charleston so we kept a garden most of the winter.

This is a truly Southern meal. This would be the time to bring out your silver rice spoon, gravy ladle, gumbo soup spoons and more. All the silver pieces made for centuries are as useful and easy to implement now as they were when our ancestors used them. If you happen to have old, circa 1870 , porcelain soup plates, they are perfect to serve this meal.

Whatever good luck this meal is said to inspire is amplified by serving any fresh field green along with it.

I learned from a farmer a few months ago that adding a half cup of vinegar to the raw greens as they are cooking makes them more tender.

I hope you enjoy the benefits of a simple, elegant meal such as this and that 2022 is indeed a good year for you!