Vegetarian Split Pea Soup

Dreamer in Ontario's Note:

This recipe comes from the Moosewood Cookbook. It's my favourite vegetarian pea soup.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 3 cups dried split peas
• 7 cups water (may need more) or 7 cups vegetable stock (may need more)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 2 cups onions, minced
• 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 3 stalks celery, minced
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 1 potato, diced
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 -4 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, to taste (or red wine vinegar)

Optional toppings

• sesame oil (optional)
• fresh ripe tomato, diced (optional)
• fresh parsley, minced (optional)

Directions:

1. Place first 5 ingredients in a large pot.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer, partially covered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent split peas from sticking to bottom of pot.
3. Add onions, garlic, celery, carrots and potato. (You can saute these first or add them in directly if you want a fat free soup).
4. Partially cover and allow to simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.(You may need to add extra water).
5. Season to taste with pepper and vinegar.
6. Serve with a drizzle of sesame oil, diced tomato and minced parsley.

Reviews

[RBES]

delicious! - we couldn't stop eating it. I only gave it 4 stars because I didn't follow the recipe exactly but I worked with what I had on hand. I used 2 garlic, 2 celery, 2 carrot, a mix of onion & leek to make 2 cups, 1/2 tsp mustard seed & no potato, bay leaf & a small piece of kombu, salt & pepper. I sauteed the veggies then added the dry split peas (2 1/2 cups) - didn't want to deal w/ cleaning 2 pots. At the end I took a tip from "101cookbooks" split pea recipe. I added lemon juice from about a 1/2 of a lemon (to taste) & that really punched up the flavors. Then to each bowl I sprinkled on some smoked paprika which gave it that wonderful smokey flavor. This was a huge hit among non- veggies!

[breezermom]

I made this tonight for my dinner, and it is delicious! It was a perfect stand alone meal.....perfect without the extra calories of bread, etc. I did saute the onions/carrots/potatoes, so guess it wasn't vegetarian....also used half chicken broth/half water. Really loved this!

[Cookgirl]

Delicious and easy to make thanks in large part to my faithful crock pot. I lightly sauteed the onions, garlic, carrots and potatoes in a little bit of olive oil then transferred to the crock pot with the rest of the ingredients. Cooked on HIGH for 2 1/2 hours then LOW for 3 hours. Garnished with fresh parsley, a few drops of toasted sesame oil and a drizzle of dark aged balsamic. Made for Veg Tag/February.