Split Pea Soup

Split Pea Soup
From Lunches & Snacks
with Lessons for Children

A very inexpensive soup at about $.30 per serving.

Amount: About 4 Servings

1. In a large soup pot bring water and peas to a boil for 3 minutes. Reduce heat to a very gentle boil until peas are tender, about 45 to 60 minutes.

    8 cups water
    2 cups green or yellow split peas

2. Add and cook about 20 minutes longer or ukntil vegetables are tender:

    1 medium onion, chopped
    3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
    3 ribs celery, thinly sliced, or bunch of chopped celery leaves
    1 bay leaf

3. Remove bay leaf. Puree all or part of the soup in the blender.

4. Season to taste with

    1 1/4 to 2 1/2 teaspoons salt

Per serving of 4
    Exchanges: 1.5 Meat, 3.5 Bread, 1.5 Vegetable; 384 Calories, 25 g. protein (21%), 1 g. fat (2%), 92 g. carbohydrate (77%; 8 g sugars), 18 g dietary fiber, 0 mg cholesterol, 768 mg sodium, $.30

Assemble Ingredients: split peas, onion, carrots, celery, bay leaves, salt

Assemble Equipment:

rinsing bowl (for split peas), colander (for draining split peas), vegetable brush, cutting board, sharp cutting knife, kitchen shears (to open split pea bag), 1 quart glass measure, 2 cup measure, soup pot, stirring spoon, kitchen timer, blender

Step #1 In a large soup pot:
     Bring water and peas to a boil
     Boil for 3 minutes
     Reduce heat to a very gentle boil until peas are tender, 45 - 60 minutes

Add 8 cups water to soup pot

Measure and add 2 cups split peas to rinsing bowl

Tip: Cut (don't tear) split peas bag open with kitchen shears

Cover peas in bowl generously with water

Swish hand through rinse water and peas to loosen any dirt, chaff, bad split peas or rocks (most of this will float to the top)

Pour off water at the top, holding hand over the peas

Do this again if needed to clean the peas

Drain peas in colander

Add peas to water in the soup pot

Turn the heat on high to bring to a boil

Boil 3 minutes

Lower heat to keep peas boiling gently

Boil gently 45 - 60 minutes or until peas are cooked

Preparation Tip:
     Set the timer for 15 minutes only
     In 15 minutes check the water level on the peas.
    You may need to add more water if the level is getting low
    Set the timer for another 15 minutes to repeat this check
    Each time you check it is more likely you will need to add water
    Set timer every 15 minutes and check water level until peas are tender

What causes the water level to go down?
    The peas are absorbing water
     Some of the boiling water will evaporate
     The more vigorous the boiling, the more water will be needed

Adding more water

Step #2
Add and cook the vegetables until they are tender, about 20 minutes

Peel and chop 1 medium onion:

Cut off the ends

Peel

Cut onion in half
Lay cut side down on cutting board
Cut slices
Hold slices together and cut crosswise into chunks

Add chopped onion to soup pot

Carrot:

Wash carrots
Use a fruit & vegetable cleaner or wash to remove surface
pesticides or chemicals, if needed

Slice 3 medium carrots

Nutrition Note:
Unless the carrots are stringy don't peel them for soups
Much of the nutritional value is in the skin

Add carrots to soup pot

Celery:

Wash celery
Use a fruit & vegetable cleaner or wash to remove surface
pesticides or chemicals, if needed

Chop or slice 3 ribs celery

Tip: This is a good recipe to use up celery leaves

Add celery to soup pot

Add 1 bay leaf

Cook about 20 minutes until vegetables are tender

Continue to keep an eye on the water level, adding more if needed

Step #3
Remove bay leaf
Puree all or part of the soup in the blender, as desired

Remove bay leaf

Optional: Add all or part of the soup to blender

Blending Tips:
    Blending the soup will thicken it and make it smooth
    We usually blend only part of the soup, leaving some of the vegetables
       in pieces for more interesting texture
    If you blend all of the soup, you cannot do it all at once so you will need
       an extra container to pour out the first part of the soup so you can
       refill the blender with what remains in the soup pot
    Because of the carrots, the blended soup will change color (see below)

Puree in blender (make smooth)

Cover blender and start blender on low speed
Increase the speed as long as soup keeps churning

Pour back into soup pot

Notice that we blended only part of the soup

Step #4
Season with salt to taste:

1 1/4 to 2 1/2 teaspoons salt

Enjoy!

VARIATION
     Cook in a crock pot on low for 5-6 hours
     Soup will be thinner
     No need to watch the water level
     Easy to keep warm until ready to eat

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