Brrrr… it sure has gotten cold out there and quick! The space heaters and blankets are out of the closet, scarves and fall jackets are on the coat rack and my body is craving warm foods. I always seem to be “that girl” who is cold even when everyone else is warm, so in the cooler months I especially need to do everything I can to keep warm. I can’t get enough hot tea and soup. One of my favorites is split pea soup – sure it’s not much to look at (my mom always taught me never to judge a book by its cover), but it sure does taste good! And split peas are good for you! Split peas are a great source of fiber, potassium and folate, plus they are available year-round. Not bad huh?
Alone, split peas do not have a very dominating flavor, so they are easy to dress up with spices (instead of salt) depending on what you are in the mood for that day. The recipe below is very flavorful – I think you will find that you won’t even need to add salt or pepper.
Ingredients:
2 cups split peas, rinsed
5 carrots, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 stalks of celery, chopped
3 tablespoons VegiZest
3 teaspoons Mrs. Dash
Directions:
Add 6 cups of water into pot
Add ingredients listed above
Cover with a lid and bring to a boil
Reduce heat to low and simmer until peas are soft – approximately 1.5 hours
Allow to cool, use immersion blender to slightly blend the soup
Other than being healthy and homemade, the other great perk about this soup is that it cost less than $6 to make and gives you about 10 cups of soup! A small cup of soup at the local store in Asheville is about $4 – what a big difference! Eating healthy doesn’t have to cost a lot.
Tags: Recipes, Vegetarian / Vegan, Wheat Free