Project 31 Day 11: Post a recipe. Or if you don't cook, try a new recipe and write about how it turned out (pictures please!)

Oh, the pressure. “How in the world will I ever choose just one recipe to share?” I wondered to myself as I anticipated checking this post off of the Project 31 list. I love to cook. I love trying new recipes or creating my own on a whim. I love fancy, complicated recipes as well as oh-so-simple, anyone-could-do-it recipes. Do I have a signature dish? Not really, although I have a few things I’m particularly proud of. And yet, nothing seemed to be calling my name as the one I just had to share, that is, until I tried this one.

Yesterday, a nice bowl of split pea soup sounded good to me. Yes, strange as it might seem, I actually was craving it. I didn’t have a ham hock, and actually, the idea of making soup from bones kinda grossed me out yesterday (I’ve been having a bit of an aversion to meat lately.)  So I decided to try to see if I could make split pea soup taste awesome without ham, and you know what? I succeeded.

I admit that I didn’t come up with this recipe entirely on my own. In fact, in my quest to find a good recipe to use as a guide, I stumbled upon a great blog—101 Cookbooks (have you heard of it? If not, you’ve got to check it out if you love cooking healthy foods as much as I do. I have a crush on it now.) I didn’t follow the recipe to the letter, but I used it as a guide. You can find the original recipe here, but what follows below is my own take on this yummy soup.

Super Easy Split Pea Soup
 
Ingredients:

2 really big onions. I mean, really big. (I think they may have even been sweet onions—not sure.)

1 pound dried green split peas (1 package, really)

a few drizzles of olive oil

4 cans low sodium chicken broth

juice of ½ a lemon

sharp cheddar, for sprinkling

bacon bits, if you want them

First, chop the onions. They can be coarsely chopped—no need to spend time making them perfect or uniform. Heat a large pot on medium-high, drizzle some olive oil in the pan, add the onions and give them a good stir to coat. Let them cook for about 5 minutes or so, until they’re soft (but not browned). In the meantime, rinse the split peas and make sure there isn’t anything sharp or hard in them that shouldn’t be there.

Add the peas, give it another good stir, and add in 3 cans of broth. Turn the heat down to a simmer and let it cook for about 40 minutes or so, or until peas are very soft.

 

Remove from heat and use a food processor (or blender) to puree the soup. You can blend until smooth like I did, or you can blend until you get a more chunky texture.

Put soup back into the pot and add the 4^th can of chicken broth, along with the lemon juice. Reheat if necessary. Then, when you’re ready to serve, sprinkle some sharp cheddar cheese and some bacon bits on top, if you’d like. (I actually think this soup is amazing on its own and doesn’t need the toppings at all.)

So there you have it. My new favorite, couldn’t-be-easier, is-sure-to-be-my-go-to soup.