The Boyfriend is on his way to California to chase down a dream, so, I'm on my own until our house sells. With that being said, I've had a productive couple of days. The Boyfriend can be a bit of a finicky eater, so I've been making foods that I know he wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.
Lined up for dinner this week:
- Split pea soup
- French onion soup
- Spinach, goat cheese, and squash tart (The Boyfriend had a hissy fit when I told him I was making this. Apparently, it sounds amazing. Initially, I was told that he was uninterested.)
- Mujadara (pronounced moo-jha-dra)
Although I'm going out to dinner tonight, I'm spending the afternoon making dinner for this week. First up: split pea soup.
Let me start by saying I've never been a fan of split pea soup. My mom made it exactly one time that I remember, and I recall not eating it. Now, my mom was a phenomenal cook, but I took one bite of that soup and decided I would rather go to bed hungry. My siblings followed suit. My poor mother. At least my dad loved it.
A few weeks ago, I'd promised two of my co-workers that I'd bring soup for lunch the following day. I had split peas leftover from another recipe and decided to take the plunge. The soup almost didn't make it to work. It was so good that I considered making something else to take so I could horde the rest in my freezer. Alas, it was late, the grocery store was closed, and I didn't truly feel like making more soup. The Boyfriend wouldn't try it (he too has been scarred by bad split pea soup), but lunch the following day was completely silent.
Enough talking, onto the recipe:
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 carrot (medium/largish), diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp vegetable base (I use Better than Boullion, but you could just use vegetable broth instead of water)
- 6 - 10 c. water (depending on how thick you want the soup to be)
- 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
Add onion, carrot, celery, and olive oil to a large, heavy bottomed pot. Cook the vegetables until they are tender.
Now, you have a choice here. You can either: Add everything else to the pot, bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer until the peas are falling apart and it feels like silk in your mouth. Or, you can toss everything in your crockpot. This week, I chose the latter, but it's because I needed my stove free so I could caramelize some onions.
I'm eating this with a salad and a nice chunk of crusty bread. And yes, the leftovers are going in my freezer.
