How to Cook Pea Soup Without a Hamhock: Vegetarian Split Pea Soup

I guess my mom didn't like it because I'd never had pea soup until a few years ago when a good friend brought some into work to share. It was delicious! It had also been seasoned with a piece of salt pork, I found out later.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• one bag dried green or yellow peas
• olive oil
• low sodium vegetable broth (optional)
• one package Knorr dry vegetable soup mix (or your favorite brand dry vegetable soup mix)
• optional: fresh ground black pepper and/or Mrs. Dash no-salt seasoning blend.

1. Fill a large stock pot with about 6 cups water and put it on the stove at high to boil. (You may need to add more later). You can also substitute some or all of that water with vegetable broth or stock. I suggest trying to find low-sodium broth as we will be adding a lot of salt to the recipe in a few steps. If the pot starts boiling too vigorously before you are ready to add the peas, turn it down to medium.

2. Where I was raised we have a special meaning for the verb 'look' when used in cooking beans or peas. You need to 'look' your peas first thing. This means spreading them out in a big bowl or running them slowly through your fingers while checking for stones or brown, wrinkly peas. Remove any that you find.

3. Put your looked peas in a colander (I look mine in a colander) and rinse under cold water for about a minute, or until the water coming out the bottom of the colander is running clear.

4. Once your water/broth is boiling, add your peas, the packet of dried soup mix, fresh ground black pepper to taste, Mrs. Dash to taste (I like a few teaspoons full), and a tablespoon or two of olive oil.

5. Adjust the heat so that the peas will simmer. Stir occasionally (I actually set my oven timer in 15 minute intervals while I'm doing something else). The peas should be ready in about an hour, give or take. They'll have absorbed a lot of the liquid and be very soft, but still intact.

6. Puree the peas. You can use a food processor, immersion stick blender, or regular blender. You'll probably have to puree the soup in batches with the food processor or blender, but I think it's worth it to get a smoother puree than you can achieve with a hand held blender.

7. That's it! I like to serve this soup garnished with cubes of garlic toast. You have to try this one, it's healthy, easy, inexpensive, and tasty--you can't beat it!

Tips & Warnings

• you can also add a clove or two of garlic or a half a coarsely chopped onion to the water at the beginning, if you like your soup garlicky.
• Make sure not to boil your soup at too high a temperature or forget to stir it. The peas will stick and possible burn, and when that happens, it's pretty hard to salvage the soup.
• If you're vegan, check the soup mix to make sure it doesn't have any dairy ingredients.