Photo from a 2009 post to the anonymous student blog, "Fried or Sizzlin: America's Economy."
One of my favorite soups is split pea and this week's bag share from Glade Road Growing has many of the ingredients: carrots, celery, bunch onions and garlic. (There will also be bok choy and lettuce mix.) All you need to add for my version is some bay leaves, potatoes and miso.
*
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 cup of dried split peas
2 bay leaves
1/2 # of carrots, washed and trimmed and cut on a slant lengthwise
4 ribs of celery, washed and cut on a slant lenthwise (discard any strings that free themselves). reserve some of the leaves for garnish.
1 bunch of green onions, washed, trimmed, separated into the bulb portion and the greens and chopped. Reserve some of the greens for garnish.
1/2 # of potatoes, washed and sliced thin
4 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed and chopped finely.
Extra virgin olive oil
4 TB miso, thinned with a little cold water.
Freshly ground black or white peppercorns, to taste
1. To cook peas, the night prior or at least two hours before serving, place dried peas into a pot with a heavy bottom (which comes equipped with a tight lid and a steamer insert.) Cover with 2 cups of water. Bring to boil, cover and turn down and cook for five minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water. Refill with 2 cups of water and return to boil in a covered pot Add bay leaves. Cook, covered, over low heat, until the peas are soft.
2. Prep the vegetables as described in the ingredients. In a well-oiled skillet, saute the bulb portion of the onions, the garlic and the celery. Add the sauteed veggies to the bottom of the pot with the peas while they are cooking. Add another two cups of water and return to a boil. Insert the steamer to the pot and in the steamer, add the carrots and potatoes, and turn down to cook them over the steam from the peas for at least 10 minutes until soft. Add the carrots and potatoes to the bottom of the pot and stir.
3. I like to put about half of the soup through a blender and add it back into the remaining soup with intact veggies to thicken the soup. When it has cooled a bit, stir in the miso. You can serve this soup hot or chilled.
4. Divide the soup into individual bowls. If you like, you can top each serving with a dollop of yogurt. Garnish with reserved raw celery leaves and chopped green onions. Sprinkle with fresh ground black or white pepper. I like to serve it with whole grain bread or you can grilled sandwiches made of sharp cheddar or your other favorite cheese.
