Split Pea Soup

Adapted from: Ina Garten, Food Network
Made by: Cathy

Growing up, I’ve never been a fan of peas. Whenever my mom made fried rice, she would always scoop a bowl out for me, sans peas, then added peas for everybody else. That’s how much I refused to eat peas. My brother on the other hand, loves peas, and cannot get enough of it!

Since living with Gary, we’ve adapted to each other’s tastes, and I’ve grown to tolerate peas. A couple of weeks ago, I saw a recipe for pea soup that took 10 minutes to make. It was for some diet/weight loss show. Since I was channel surfing, I didn’t get the name of the show, but it looked pretty simple.

My quest for pea soup started! Most of the recipes I found was for split pea soup, so I tried that instead. This definitely didn’t take 10 minutes, but it was good. Gary liked it, and he even compared it to Au Bon Pain soup…I take that as a compliment.

The recipe called for 8 cups of stock, so I halved the recipe. We both agreed it was a bit salty for our taste, so I ended up adding an extra cup of water. It may be the stock we used, but I will use less salt next time.

Ingredients:
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 medium-diced carrots
2 medium-diced potatoes
1 stalk celery diced
1 1/4 cup dried split green peas (half a bag)
4 cups chicken stock or water (one carton)
1 cup water

Directions:
1. In a small stockpot on medium heat, sauté the onions and garlic with the olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper until the onions are translucent, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Add the carrots, potatoes, split peas, chicken stock, and water.

3. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 60 minutes. Skim off the foam while cooking. Stir frequently to keep the solids from burning on the bottom. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve hot, with bread or crackers.