Today we’re featuring a guest post by our friend Luna Raven of Luna’s Kitchen Magic, contributor at one of our favorite site discoveries of the year, Kwanzaa Culinarians. We asked her to talk a bit about the traditions — and food — of Kwanzaa.

Created in 1966 by Ron Karenga, Kwanzaa was conceived as a way to bring Black Americans together in a spirit of solidarity anchored by seven defining principles: Umoja, which honors unity; Kujichagulia, self determination to create for ourselves; and Ujima, the principle of collective work and responsibility. Then there is Ujamaa, meaning cooperative economics and supporting local business, and Kuumba, that calls upon the people to leave the community always in better shape than they found it.

Photo credit by soulchristmas, on Flickr

The coming together of family and community at this time serves to deepen the sense of Nia, the principle of developing a sense of purpose and allows for celebrations that involve music, dance, food and spirit, leaving room for Imani, the principle of faith that together we can make the world a better place.

Celebrated from December 26th through January 1st, Kwanzaa has its roots in the first fruits celebrations, in which African societies celebrated the first harvests of the season. It is a special time for Black Americans to celebrate their ancestors and honor their origins, as well as to gather together and be thankful for the many blessings of the year. Surprisingly, despite the fact that it started out as a strictly American holiday, today people can also be found celebrating Kwanzaa in Canada, the Caribbean, and South America.

The colors of the holiday — black, green and red — date back only to 1920, when they were designated the colors of the African race by the Universal Negro Improvement Association, taken from the colors of various African flags. The colors are used to adorn the home for the holiday using tablecloths, woven mats & baskets and Kwanzaa art, which some groups choose to make by hand. The colors may also be worn in decorative clothes such as traditional African dashiki and vibrant head wraps.

Foods that are often featured at Kwanzaa celebrations are sweet potatoes, collard greens, black eyed peas, sesame seeds and peanuts. Though the original idea was to celebrate with traditional African dishes, when Kwanzaa became mainstream the celebrants began making foods that were a more familiar part of their daily culture. The best part of this shift is that no matter what foods you long for at the holiday, you can easily adapt them to combine the time-honored flavors of the holiday with your own inspired touch whether it be black eyed peas in your posole or some curried goat with rice and peas.

In creating my own recipe to celebrate I decided on lentils, a play on South African stews. For some warming holiday goodness, this spicy lentil dish will go with any of the more traditional foods or leaves you room to start your own! You’ll need:

Spiced Lentils
1-½ c. black lentils
1-½ c. green lentils
1 tsp salt
1 tsp grated ginger
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, cleaned and chopped
Fresh marjoram

Place lentils, 3 cups of water and 1 tsp of salt into a medium saucepan and cook about 30 minutes. While this is cooking, sauté onions, adding garlic and red bell pepper at the end so they still have a bit of crunch. Drain some of the water from the lentils, add the ginger, marjoram, and sautéed vegetables. Serve immediately.