Cooking

Recipe: Curried Split Pea Soup

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This is a recipe I’m extremely proud of because I always wanted to make good vegetarian split pea soup.  Done right, it’s high in protein, nutritious, low in fat, and filling.  This is the 5th version of the recipe, and I’m quite happy with it – took nearly a year to perfect.

I think you’ll agree it’s worth it!

INGREDIENTS (Broken up in stages)

  • 3 TBSP olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 tbsp chopped garlic
  • 1 tbsp curry powder
  • 6 cups water
  • 2 cups dried split green peas (picked over and rinsed) – This will be about a pound, but measurements are a pain.
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 Tbsp Soy sauce (was 1/2 tsp salt)
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground thyme.
  • 1 tsp smoked  paprika
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice.

 

  1. Saute onion in 1 tbsp olive oil until it softens and browns.
  2. Add garlic, curry.  Stir in oil until fragrant (really 20-30 seconds)
  3. Add water,peas, soy sauce, pepper, oregano, thyme.
  4. Bring to boil covered, then reduce heat as low as possible  simmer until peas are cooked (should be al dente) – maybe 20-30 minutes.  Careful, near the end they swell up FAST.
  5. Puree soup in blender or in immersion blender.
  6. Return soup to pot (if you used a blender).  Add lemon juice, Paprika, rest of olive oil.
  7. Reheat the pureed mixture.
  8. Serve.

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An Interesting Little Experiment

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So I’ve spent the last year trying to improve my cooking and eat more vegetarian and healthy. It’s been pretty successful, so I’m at the final stage – an inventory.

What I’m doing is trying to track my basic nutrition day by day for a week to see if everything paid off, if I have any gaps in my nutrition, etc. It’s already pretty interesting (for instance I’m eating more low sodium than I realized).

Just a day in already has me thinking and noticing things. Going to be interesting to see where this goes . . .

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

Meaty Mushroom Bisque

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Been awhile since I posted recipes here – mostly as I was experimenting and the results were less then stellar.  But I had another out-of-the park experience by fusing a few recipes together: Meaty Mushroom Bisque.

I saw a mushroom soup recipe, but don’t like things loaded with salty vegetable broth, and as I had a portobella recpie that made mushrooms taste meaty, and found a potato made things creamy (without using fatty cream), I kitbashed the first recipe, the second recipe, and a veggie broth herb mix substitute I’ve been trying (basically oregano, basil, sage, dill, thyme, marjoram, garlic, and onion make a good broth substitute)

  • 2 Tbsp Spread/Butter substitute
  • 1 large white onion, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp crushed garlic
  • 1 1/2 lbs mushrooms, mixed
  • 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp dried basil
  • 2 Tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 1/2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1 large potato, sliced
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 1/4 tsp dill weed
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp sage
  • 1/4 tsp ground marjoram
  1. Saute onions in butter/spread until they soften and brown a bit (5-7 min)
  2. Add garlic, mushrooms, balsamic vinegar, basil, oregano, and soy sauce.  Saute until the mushrooms soften.  This is usually 3-5 minutes.
  3. Add all else, stir.
  4. Lower heat and bring to a simmer.  Cover. Stir every few minutes.
  5. When everything is softened (about 20-30 minutes).  Remove from heat.
  6. Let cool, somewhat, then puree in blender or with immersion blender.
  7. Reheat.  Serve.

Makes 4 large main-course servings or 6-8 side servings.

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