Soup for Supper: Split Pea and Barley Soup

Split pea soup is not pretty so I took this photo as I was loading the slow cooker.

Did you get a new slow cooker for Christmas?  Do you need a new soup recipe that's filling and tasty on a cold night?  Is your New Year's resolution to eat healthier?  If you answered yes to any of these, today's recipe may be just the ticket!  This is one of my favorite stick-to-your-ribs winter soups.  I served it recently with these crazy panini sandwiches made in the waffle iron.

I grew up eating split pea soup with ham and then as an adult, I started making vegetarian split pea soup.  This recipe can go either way - you can add chicken apple sausage or kielbasa or you can leave it out and it's just as good!  You can even have it both ways if you're serving carnivores and vegetarians because you add the sausage at the very end so you could just add it to individual servings.

This recipe is from my favorite, Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann.  Jack really likes this soup because the added barley dilutes the flavor of the split peas that can be a little overwhelming to him.  I like that this soup cooks for a long time so if it's a long workday, you don't have to worry about it.  Note: this is the only split pea soup recipe I've ever made that called for soaking the peas overnight before cooking.  I do it - because I'm a recipe-following kind of girl - but I'm guessing you could skip that step, especially if you forget to do it the night before.

Mary Moo's Green Split Pea and Barley Soup

1 lb. dried green split peas
2 TBS olive oil
1 medium-size yellow onion, finely chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 medium-size carrot, minced
3/4 cup pearl barley, rinsed and drained
2 to 3 TBS Bragg's Liquid Aminos (this is a vegetarian stock substitute that is available in natural food stores)
2 TBS chicken or vegetable bouillon powder (I use two large vegetable bouillon cubes)
1 tsp garlic powder (I usually don't have garlic powder so I press a couple cloves of fresh garlic into the sauteeing vegetables)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 to 2 TBS chopped fresh marjoram, to your taste (Who ever has fresh marjoram?  I use 1 tsp dried marjoram and add it to the veggies)
4 to 8 ounces chicken apple sausage (optional), to your taste, browned in a saute' pan or under the broiler, and sliced

Note: I chopped the celery, onion and carrot all together in the food processor.  Easy!

Put the split peas in a colander and rinse under cold running water.  Pick over and discard any that are discolored.  Soak them overnight in a medium or large slow cooker in enough cold water to cover by 2 inches at room temperature; drain well and return to the slow cooker.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat heat.  Add the onion, celery and carrot (and garlic if using fresh) and cook, stirring a few times, until just softened, about 5 minutes.  Put in the cooker along with the barley, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, bouillon powder, garlic powder and cayenne.  Add water to come about 3 inches above the vegetables.  Cover and cook on LOW for 10 to 12 hours.

Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the marjoram and sausage, if using.  Add water to thin if the soup is too thick.  Cover and continue to cook on LOW for another 30 minutes or until the sausage is heated through.  Ladle into serving bowls and serve hot.