I test a lot of recipes for inclusion in the menu planner. A LOT. My camera is full of random images of food in various states of preparation. Sometimes I blog that a recipe is being tested, but not always what the outcome was, so, Friday is going to be show and tell.
Today is Split Pea Soup in the crock pot. This sounded like a great idea. I like the idea of not having to keep watching the pot to make sure it doesn’t scorch. We had leftover ham, I always have carrots, celery, onion, and garlic on hand, and a bag of split peas is cheap (no need to buy the name brand, really). Healthy food on the cheap, what’s not to love?
The prep is easy. Rinse the peas. They are dusty; you don’t know where they’ve been. Check for dirt clumps and pebbles while you’re at it. I don’t know where the little yellow guy game from.
Put the rinsed peas in the crock pot.
Now chop up some vegetation. 2-3 carrots, about 1/2 cup of onion, about 1/4 cup of celery (dice it) and garlic. Ok, the garlic optional, but I like it.
I did not take a picture of the ham. It was 2 cups of diced ham which went right into the crock pot with the vegetation. Not including, of course, the pieces that fell on the floor. Those went into the dog.
I added 6 cups of water, a teaspoon of salt, and a bay leaf, and let it go. And this is why it’s not in the MealMixer recipes (but it is shared in community recipes so you can try it!): After 8 hours there was too much water. It took 4 more hours to cook down. Not that this was a bad thing, but, IMHO it was just not correct. Next time I will try adding 4 cups of boiling water.
When it was finally done I could really taste the sweetness from the carrots and they kept their shape. Split Pea Soup isn’t that photogenic…
Pretty or not, it’s got a great nutritional profile!
Split pea soup is great for a healthy diet. If you don’t eat meat – just leave out the ham, but you might need to add a bit of extra salt. This soup also freezes really well, so if you know you wont eat it all, freeze it right away in lunch sized portions. If it gets too thick, simply add water!
Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold,
Peas porridge in the pot, nine days old;
Some like it hot, some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot, nine days old
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