split pea soup

Soup is my comfort food, and winter in the Northwest always needs more comfort. Plus, beans and split peas are ridiculously cheap at GrocOut right now.

Simple Split Pea Soup
makes 4 servings as a side
2 c dry split peas, washed
4 1/2 c water
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 large carrot, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped (I like red onions)
1 T salt
2 c milk or milk alternative thing (I used almond milk)
Pepper, to taste.

Boil water. Put split peas, celery, carrot, onion, and salt in water. Boil for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add milk. Add pepper. Stir. Eat. Feel warmth in chest.
If you like meat, add 1 c cooked diced ham when adding the veggies.

Vegan "Cheese" and Broccoli Soup

Marin is the outlier of the house. By that I mean they're vegan, gluten-intolerant, and allergic to corn and soy, but the rest of us are omnivores. Marin and I are both really into communal meals, which is way more of a challenge on my part than theirs when we decide to cook.
I fucking love soup, so I decided to try to make a cream-of-broccoli soup everyone in the house can eat. This isn't as thick as a normal cream soup is, but it's still pretty great.


-1/4 c Soy-free EarthBalance
-1/2 c rice flour
-1 c vegetable stock
-2 medium broccoli crowns, stalk included, cut into reasonably bite-sized pieces
-1 medium onion, diced
-1 c sliced mushrooms
-4 c vegetable stock
-1 c nutritional yeast

Melt EarthBalance in a 3-qt saucepan over medium heat. Add rice flour. Stir with a whisk or spatula constantly until rice flour turns golden-brown, then add 1 c veggie stock. Stir until there are no chunks, and the EarthBalance/rice flour roux is mixed thoroughly into the stock.
Add broccoli, onion, and mushrooms. Cook until onion becomes clear and slightly tender. Add 4 c vegetable stock and 1 c nutritional yeast. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat and serve. The nutritional yeast has a tendency to settle, so the soup may need to be stirred every once in a while.

Notes: White or crimini mushrooms are great, but I lucked out and chanterelles were on sale, so I got fancy mushrooms.
Also delicious with bacon bits, but Marin isn't into that, so I didn't include it in the original recipe.
Nutritional yeast is fucking expensive. I got mine ridiculously cheap by going in the bulk section and labeling it with the # for cornmeal. I feel totally justified doing this because the grocery store I bought it from refuses to carry Plan B and their pharmacist judges you if you ask for it. If I wasn't so poor and filled with feminist rage (RAGE!) I'd buy it from the local co-op.

Vegetable Soup Stock

AKA "throw a bunch of vegetable scraps in a pot and boil the hell out of it." Also, look everyone I got batteries for my camera! Here's the "before" picture.

I keep the odds and ends of veggies used in other recipes in a freezer bag to use for soup stock. This one's made of bits of green onions, red onions, yellow onions, one small potato, maybe 3 celery stalks, part of a tomato (which I'm finding makes stocks slightly bitter), 2 small carrots, and a heap of pre-chopped garlic. The house buys pre-chopped garlic in bulk, so I don't use fresh-chopped as much as I'd like. There are some spices in there, like salt, pepper, and a bay leaf. I don't remember everything I smelled in the cupboard and thought "this'll be nice," then threw in. I'm precise in my cooking, I know.

As a basic veggie soup stock recipe, you can gather
1 onion
2 carrots
3 celery stalks
1 head garlic (which is what gives it more flavor)
1 bay leaf
and as much salt and pepper as you like

Quarter onion. Peel garlic. Cut carrots and celery into... chunks about 1-2 inches long. Throw all ingredients in the largest pot you own. Add enough water to fill your large pot. Bring water to a boil, then let simmer for 1-2 hours. Strain veggie bits out, wait for the stock to cool, and refrigerate or freeze for later deliciousness.

Here we have the "after."