Comfort Food on a Rainy Day

Rain is predicted for today here in Northern California. A good day to make soup. Making my own soup is one of the easier ways to eat healthier and get a little comfort food. One of my favorite childhood memories is coming home on cold days and smelling split pea soup or bean soup simmering on the stove. Not to disparage anyone’s favorite store bought soup! It is just that I know what is in my soup. I control the amount of salt and no sugar, of course. And, as a vegetarian, I like being sure there is no meat broth hidden in the fine print. Here is a recipe for Split Pea Soup. This came from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. If you are not vegetarian you can always add some diced ham or even a ham bone to the soup at the beginning of the cooking cycle. The soup takes about 2 hours start to finish and most of that time you are doing other things while the soup cooks.

Split Pea Soup
1 ½ cups split green peas, sorted and rinsed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
¼ cup chopped parsley (I use a handful of fresh parsley from my very small herb
garden)
1 tsp of dried marjoram
1 teaspoon of fresh or dried rosemary
1 teaspoon of paprika
Salt and freshly milled pepper
Aromatics (put them straight into the soup or in a small cheesecloth bag tied closed. You are going to discard this at the end of cooking and putting in a cheesecloth bag lets you pull them out all at once without hunting through the soup for them)
2 quarts vegetable stock (make your own or buy ready made. I frequently use Trader Joes vegetable broth.)
Mushroom soy sauce
1.2 cup of small croutons browned in olive oil

Cover the peas with water and set aside.

Heat the oil in a soup pot (I use a Dutch oven) over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and sauté until the onion takes on some color, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, parsley, herbs, paprika and plenty of pepper and cook for another few minutes. Drain the peas and add them to the pot along with the aromatics, 1 ½ tsp. of salt and the stock. Stir frequently at first to keep the peas from sinking to the bottom. Once the soup comes to a boil, lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the peas have completely broken down, 1 hour or more. Add extra water if the soup becomes too thick. Remove the aromatics.

Season to taste with soy sauce or extra salt as needed. Serve with the croutons and chopped parsley in each bowl.

My own modification to this recipe is to use an immersion blender to puree the soup slightly because I like my soup thicker and smooth.

Perfect for a day like today!