Split Pea Soup

Split pea soup may not look like anything tasty... in fact it looks a whole lot like something no one would ever want to eat. Something I don't really want to talk about on my blog. Let's just say it comes out of infants... and it's not entirely pleasant.

But what it lacks in appearance, it makes up for in thrifty yummy filling food.

Hearty, healthy, and it uses up ham. In case you are like anyone I know and has pounds of ham lying in the freezer. Not that I would know anyone who has several pounds of ham stockpiled so that it looks like they're preparing for the apocalypse... even though they aren't, they just got a ham for Christmas and they're still trying to use it up... (Ahem, I might be married to this person. Please send your ham recipes... I'm running out of ideas.)

Split Pea Soup
Source: Cooks Illustrated, Feb. 2011

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large onion
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
7 cups water
1 lb ham steak, thickly sliced (thawed, if frozen)
4 slices bacon
1 lb split green peas, rinsed and picked through
1 1/2 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 celery stalk, diced

Heat butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, 1/2 tsp salt and cook until onion is translucent, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just long enough to release the aroma. Add water, ham, bacon, split peas, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Over the next few minutes, the split peas will start to break down from whole, intact split peas in the beginning, to completely broken down delicious mush in the end. For the first part of this cooking process, you want the peas to be about 2/3 broken down; essentially the cooking liquid should be a little thick but there should still be remnants of whole peas in the soup. We'll cook them a little more to get the completely done.

Remove the ham and add carrots and celery. Set ham aside on a plate and cover with foil for about 20-30 minutes. When the ham is cool enough to handle, shred apart with two forks.

Remove bay leaves and bacon from the soup and return ham to the pot. Simmer for a few minutes to heat thoroughly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with warm crusty bread.

Enjoy!

Multi-Grain Waffles

Happy Sunday everyone! Here's a little taste of what this morning looked like over here.

Yum yum yum. Multi-Grain waffles, how can they be so awesome and healthy? I think it's because you add oats, whole wheat four and wheat germ and then douse these with butter and maple syrup. Awesome.

Multi-Grain Waffles

Source: Eating Well

2 cups buttermilk*

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup toasted wheat germ

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 large eggs

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl, mix buttermilk and and oats. Let sit for about 15 minutes to let the oats soften. 

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, wheat germ, salt and cinnamon. Once the oats are done soaking, add eggs, olive oil and vanilla. Whisk until combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. 

Heat up a waffle iron and cook waffles according to the manufactures instructions.

Serve with warm maple syrup and butter or, my favorite, strawberry jam. 

This recipe always makes more waffles than John and I can eat in one setting. I use up all the batter and make as many waffles as I can. Then, I stick them in the refrigerator and heat them up in the toaster all week for breakfast. Super easy and delicious weekday breakfast!

Enjoy!

*If you don't have buttermilk on hand (which I usually don't), measure 2 tbsp white vinegar into a measuring cup. Fill with milk until it reaches 2 cups. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Lentil Soup with Vegetables and Kale

Mmmm lentils. I feel like I've been on a real lentil kick lately. They're so versatile, easy, healthy, delicious... where can you go wrong? Plus, they're cheap. Super win there, kiddos. Super win. I've only posted one other recipe for lentils here (which might be the absolute best vegan lentil recipe on the planet). Besides chopping up all the veggies for today's recipe, this cooks up really quickly. Perfect for a weeknight meal.  And it makes a ton of food - great for freezing or lunches all week. So go, cook lentils, and feel happy and healthy.

Lentil Stew with Vegetables and Kale
Adapted from Bon Appétit, March 2011

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 rutagaba, peeled and chopped
1 celery root, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 lb green lentils, rinsed
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
8 cups vegetable broth
1 large bunch kale, washed, ribs removed, leaves torn into small pieces

In a large pot, heat olive oil over high heat. Add onions, rutabaga, celery root, and carrots. Cook, stirring occaisionally, until lightly browned and softened, about 10 minutes. Add lentils, broth and spices. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until lentils are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you like your soup a little soupier, add more broth to thin. I like thick heartier soups, so I stuck with the 8 cups of broth, but it was a very tick stew-type soup.

Serve with crusty bread.

Enjoy!