Curried Yellow Split Pea and Carrot Soup

Catching up on the big pile of magazines I had to read, I was going through the December/January 2011 issue of  ReadyMade and saw an article on Soups. One recipe was a vegetarian/vegan friendly Curried Yellow Split Pea and Carrot Soup. I made up a batch for dinner tonight (something to combat the sugar fest of the babies birthday cake!). I did some tweaks to the soup and didn’t include the crème fraîche topping (not much into that). The original unaltered recipe was on page 46.

Curried Yellow Split Pea and Carrot soup

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb carrots, peeled, ends removed and diced
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced
• 1 tsp roasted garlic (jarred)
• 1 Tbsp mild curry powder
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• 8 cups low sodium vegetable stock (2 32-ounce containers)
• 1 lb yellow split peas
• 3 Tbsp cider vinegar

Directions:

1. Spread the yellow split peas on a baking sheet and pick over, looking for any dried skins or field debris. Rinse in a mesh colander until the water runs clear.
2. In a large heavy pot heat the oil over medium heat. Add the carrots and onions, cook for about 10 minutes, adding the garlic in the last-minute. Sprinkle the spices on top and cook for another minute or two, stirring often.
3. Stir in the broth and peas, turn up to high and bring to a boil. Let boil for 2 minutes, then turn to medium-low and cover mostly. Let cook for about 45 minutes, stirring periodically.
4. Stir in the vinegar.
5. Take off the heat and process with a hand immersion blender until mostly smooth.
6. Season to taste as desired and serve.
7. Serves about 5 to 6 large hearty bowls – and do serve with a crusty bread!

~Sarah

PS: I got an email as well today that had a neat PDF on their website – the Pulse Canada organization. The PDF is a full color e-book full of info on beans, peas, lentils, etc and how to use them – with lots of recipes. Do check it out!