Split Pea

Split pea soup is full of vegetables and protein. Soup connection has made a vegan version, unlike the traditional kind (which is made with a ham hock) to show that you don’t need ham to get all the protein you need for a meal. What provides the protein in our split pea soup? Mostly, the split peas.  Peas are a unique food that can count as a protein and/or vegetable. 

Another aspect of split peas is the fiber content. Split peas have over 16 grams of fiber per 1 cup serving. That’s more than half of the daily recommendation! Most vegetables are naturally high in fiber. Legumes often don’t contain as many as the essential vitamins and minerals that other vegetables provide, but one mineral they do provide is iron. Each 1 cup serving provides 2.5mg (that’s 30% of the recommendation for men and 14% for women). 

If you want to make this soup a bit more hearty, we recommend adding a nice grilled ham and cheese (or just cheese if you are vegetarian) and load on the veggies. Adding some apple slices would round off this meal perfectly!

 

Split Pea Recipe

1.5-3 cups water (add to generously cover split peas)
0.5 lb of split peas
3 stalks of celery
3 medium carrots
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp thyme
0.25 tsp paprika
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1-2 cups broth

Rinse the peas and combine them in a large soup pot with the water, chopped celery, onions, bay leaf, thyme and paprika. Bring the water to a boil and cook briskly for about 15 minutes. Lower the heat, add parsley and vegetables broth. Simmer covered for 40-60 minutes or until the peas are completely soft and falling apart. Meanwhile, peel and finely dice the carrots. Steam until tender. Remove the bay leaf. Add salt and pepper to taste. Can also add more broth if the soup seems too thick. Add the carrots and heat through.