While I ate this soup fresh this week, I sometimes turn this recipe into instant soup powder. To do that, make the soup with less water. Puree the finished soup (trust me -- it will rehydrate much better and it will grind easier if you puree first). Spread the soup on dehydrator trays. I have liners for my trays, but if you just have mesh, spread the soup onto parchment paper over the mesh. Dehydrate until totally dry. Then crumble the soup and blend again to make a powder. This powder is great for travelling or keeping at work for those days you could just use cup of nice homemade soup. Simply add hot water and let it sit for a few minutes.
Also, I know many people now have pressure cookers to make a soup like this cook super fast. I don't have one, so these are the old-fashion instructions. If you're old school like me, let me introduce you to the greatest thing ever for cooking beans -- a silicone lid spill-stopper! I splurged and spent a whole $8 for this thing online, and it was worth every penny. I hate how pulses boil over and get starchy gunk all over my stove top, and split peas are some of the worst offenders. The spill stopper keeps the foam from going everywhere. I have it featured in the photos below.
One last funny story: In the directions below I mention to add a little more water to soup you are saving as leftovers, because it thickens up as it sits. I learned this one the hard way. One day I had my soup the perfect consistency, nice and thick, and I poured it into my jar and brought it to work.
When it was time for lunch, I opened the jar, put a paper towel over the top (I always do this), started the microwave, and went to the bathroom (I have timed my lunch time bathroom visit to coincide perfectly with heating my soup). I came back to find that half of my soup had leapt from the jar! Thankfully, it knocked off the paper towel and most of it landed on said towel, so I was able to scoop it back into the jar and eat it (never waste soup this yummy!). Learn from me and thin your soup a little.
Ahh, a nice big chunk of ginger! That really adds flavor to this soup.
I actually only used half of that chunk and saved the rest for another meal later this week.
When mincing ginger, don't forget to cut against the grain first.
Then it's much easier to mince the rest of the way.
I actually only used half of that chunk and saved the rest for another meal later this week.
When mincing ginger, don't forget to cut against the grain first.
Then it's much easier to mince the rest of the way.
Here is the spill stopper, ready to work hard!
The clock is cut off in this photo, but this is exactly one minute later.
With a regular lid, this foam would have been streaming down over my nice clean stove top.
With a regular lid, this foam would have been streaming down over my nice clean stove top.
And there are some jars of soup, ready to go for lunches this week,
trying to blend in with the greenery in my kitchen.
trying to blend in with the greenery in my kitchen.
Split Pea Soup #1
1 onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, minced
1 pound green split peas
8-9 cups water
1 tsp turmeric
black pepper
1-2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
2 tsp miso paste
1. Saute the onion in a large soup pot with a little bit of water. Add the garlic and ginger.
2. Rinse the split peas and add them to the pot with 8 cups of water. Let it come to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 40 minutes. Check to make sure the peas are nicely mushy.
3. Add the turmeric, pepper, nutritional yeast, and miso paste.
4. If you are eating the soup right away, you should be good to go. If you are saving it, you will want to water it down a little bit as it will thicken as it sits.
Makes about 4 servings.
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