split pea soup

No matter the season, I love making and eating soups. I usually serve mine with a grilled cheese sandwich or a delicious salad. Mmmm, so good! Lately, I've been making a fantastic split pea and thyme soup which I found via the food network. I tweaked mine a bit. Since I'm a vegetarian, I skipped the ham and replaced the chicken stock with a veggie one. I promise you won't be disappointed... let me know if you give it a try! 

You'll need: 

2 tbsp butter

1 yellow onion, diced

1 large carrot, diced 

1 stalk celery, diced 

1 leek, white part only, washed and diced 

2 cloves garlic, minced 

2 bay leaves 

1 sprig of fresh thyme 

1 1/2 cups green split peas 

10 cups vegetable stock

Coriander, small handful, chopped 

Parsley, small handful, chopped

Cracked salt & pepper, to taste 

Instructions: 

Heat your butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, leek and garlic... I usually cook mine for about 5 minutes. Next you'll want to add your bay leaves, thyme, split peas and cook for a couple more minutes. Then increase your heat to high, add your stock and bring your soup to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let your soup simmer for 2 hours or until the split peas are soft. 

Remove the bay leaves and thyme stalks. Puree your soup with a hand-held blender. If it's too thick, you can add additional stock or water. Bring your soup back to a boil, add the chopped parsley & coriander and season to taste with salt & pepper. Enjoy!