Split pea soup with vegetables and fresh herbs
Split pea soup is comfort in a bowl. And when you add a whole bunch of vegetables and cook them until they’re meltingly tender, it becomes extreme comfort.
I’d usually pooh-pooh the idea of overcooking vegetables, but here the mushiness works perfectly with the peas. The fresh herbs keep it, well, fresh. To pump up the flavor, I used caraway seeds, tamari and importantly, smoked salt. (Like the black salt I described in my last post, smoked salt is an ingredient you should get your hands on.) I love this soup as is, but the next time I make it, I’m going to experiment with adding a whole head of roasted garlic, and triple the amount of fresh herbs. Because, why not?
Admittedly, this might not be the prettiest soup (I hope never to photograph split pea soup again!), but the nutritional value is pretty amazing. It’s packed with protein, fiber, vitamin A and potassium. And my recipe is vegan, gluten-free and low fat to boot.
This made my husband and I wonder why in the world we don’t make split pea soup more often. I think we finished a big pot in two days and still wanted more. Don’t let winter go by without making this one, ok?
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 carrots, diced (about 1½ cups)
4 stalks celery, diced (about 1½ cups)
4 small red potatoes, diced (about 1½ cups)
1 small zucchini, diced (about 1 cup)
1 small turnip, diced (about 1 cup)
1 pound dried split peas
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
5 cups water
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh sage leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon caraway seeds, or more to taste
Generous pinch smoked salt (optional)
1 tablespoon low-sodium tamari
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste
Heat olive oil over medium in a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven. Add the onions, carrots and celery, raise the heat a bit and and sauté for 10 minutes, until the onion is nicely browned. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 60 to 90 minutes, until the consistency is to your liking. If the soup gets too thick, add a bit more broth or water. Taste for salt and add more if needed.
Serves 8
Here’s another one of my no-recipe recipes. I could chalk it up to being a lazy blogger, but truth be told, quantities aren’t that important here. This is a universally appealing dish, as it’s both vegan and gluten-free, and provides some nice protein. I must give credit to my husband Tim for this fresh and bright salad, as he makes it often to take to his art studio for lunch.
To prepare for my once-a-year sour cherry pie, I made a special trip into the city to try to find organic sour cherries. Alas, there were no organic ones to be found at the Union Square greenmarket, but I scored some that they claimed were “minimally sprayed” – probably a crock but I bought them anyway. If it’s a choice between that and no cherry pie, I’ll turn a blind eye this one time. And the season for tart cherries is so short, I had to act fast. (Don’t even think of making this with sweet cherries – it’s not the same thing at all.)
I was never much of a tofu eater – I know all about the health concerns surrounding soy – but since I’ve gone vegan (OK, 99% vegan), I’ve let it sneak back into my diet once a week. Now, instead of our old Sunday morning egg ritual, we now have scrambled tofu. I figure eating tofu once a week can’t be too harmful – and I’ve really grown to love this dish.
