We're Gonna Be Cookin'

Okay, troops, we're gonna be posting some recipes frequently here now. Because I'm so totally over-done on sweets (double YU-uck!) and need some REAL food. And because it's the part of the year when I'm inside more than outside and actually have time to cook. (But, wait . . . cooking? Quilting? Cooking? Quilting? Hmmm, should I rethink what I just said?)

Oh, let's just get on with it.

I made a pot of yummy soup this morning. Great Green Soup with Vegetables is the name. It's a hearty soup with lots of eye appeal and flavor. Here are the ingredients:

Great Green Soup with Vegetables

1 cup green split peas
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium chopped onion
4 ribs chopped celery
3 sliced carrots
1 medium cubed potato

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried chives
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 bay leaf

3 cups broth or water

Chunks of meat (optional)

Wash the split peas, put into a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let soak for one hour. Drain, discarding the water.

In a soup pot, saute the onion in the butter for a few minutes. Add the celery, carrots and potato. (The potato looks like chunks of apple, doesn't it?) Continue sauteing until veggies are lightly browned.

Add the drained peas and seasonings; mix well. Add the broth, cover the pan and bring soup to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer about one hour, testing to see that the peas are soft. Stir occasionally during simmering and add more broth or water if soup becomes thicker than you want. When peas are done, check the seasonings, and add more if you wish. Remove the bay leaf and serve.

Makes about 6 cups.

NOTES: Because I have our own organically grown potatoes to use, I prefer not to peel the potato . . . adds color and a little texture.

For the broth, I use my homemade broth . . . either chicken or turkey or beef . . . whatever I have on hand. I almost always have to add more salt because my broth isn't as salty as the commercial kind.

I think I've mentioned before that I'm a carbohydrate type and Roy is a protein type. That means, especially in the winter time, he's always looking for more M-E-A-T than I have a hankering for. So to keep him happy, I sliced up some pre-cooked pork sausage and added it to this batch of soup. The soup truly doesn't need it for flavor, but I have to make sure the main snow shoveling person has plenty of energy these days. (The package of sausage is pictured above with the herbs and seasonings.) It's Organic Prairie Italian Pork Sausage (fully cooked), and I do admit it's delicious.

Chunks of cooked chicken or ham are good in it, too.

This soup could be turned into a thick, creamy soup (minus the meat) by putting it in the blender after cooking. (Just be sure to remove the bay leaf first!) But I think I prefer it with the interesting texture of the veggies and split peas in the broth.