A vegan diet isn’t always easy to follow. I helps to have a few go-to favorites that are great tasting and satisfying. Here’s one of mine, vegan split pea soup. I use all organic ingredients.
Ingredients
2 lbs split peas
14 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 medium potatoes
5 medium carrots
1 medium onion
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon dried italian herbs
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. Rinse and sort peas. Pea package directions will often tell you to combine hot water and the rinsed and sorted peas. In the interest of reducing cleanup and saving a little time, I dump the peas into a large pot, rinse and sort, add cold water from the tap (using hot tap water just doesn’t seem right for cooking to me), cover and put the pot on the stove and turn up the burner to high. I then get to work on the vegetables while the water and peas heat up. When it reaches a boil, tilt the lid and turn down the heat and simmer.
2. Mince the garlic and dice the onion. Depending on my mood, I either dice the carrot and potato for a chunkier soup or grate it by hand for a creamier one. Add garlic, onion, olive oil and herbs to the pot.
Related: 5 Ways to Make Eating Vegan More Interesting
3. Keep simmering with the pot lid tilted. I make sure to stir regularly because the soup starts sticking to the bottom of the pot eventually. I sometimes close the pot lid for periods of time if the soup is cooking too quickly. I typically do this if I’m looking for a less chunky soup. Add salt and pepper toward the end of your cooking time. Apparently adding the salt early can interfere with the peas cooking properly. From the time the soup starts simmering, I cook between 1 and 2 hours. Add a side of bread and you’ve got a meal.
This is really just a general set of ingredients and directions, you can get as creative as you want. Some people use vegetable broth instead of water, which makes for a richer soup. I’m more of a purist and always use water. You can, of course, add more or less or other vegetables, more or less water, use soy sauce instead of salt, substitute a little barley in place of some peas, or whatever you can think up.
Enjoy.