Pamper Yourself Gluten Free Vegetarian Split Pea Soup

Whenever I visit my parents I get chosen as head chef and wind up doing a lot of cooking. One of my favorite things to make probably because I love it is Split Pea Soup. And that is exactly what I am making today a big batch of Split Pea Soup. My directive was to use as many carrots as possible in whatever soup I decided to make. Since I know my dogs LOVE the carrots from Split Pea Soup I decided that is what I would make.



Recipe:
1 lb of Dry Green Split Peas rinsed
1 large onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic chopped (can use garlic powder)
4 carrots chopped
oil
salt & pepper to taste
 7 cups of water to start with

Optional:
1 stalk of celery
Chili Garlic Sauce from Huy Fong Foods
For non Gluten Free / Soy Free Eaters you can add your favorite Vegetarian Hot Dog 30 minutes before serving


Brown onions and garlic in oil in soup pot. Don't worry if they start to stick to the pot you can always add a bit of water to un-stick them and the extra caramelized onions just makes the soup taste better.  Once the onions have started to brown add the carrots and if you are using celery add that now as well. Cook until the onions are very caramelized and the carrots become vibrant orange. Add the split peas. I don't know if this actually does anything but I toast the split peas before adding water. Once you feel the split peas are toasted enough add the 7 cups of water and bring to a boil. Keep an eye on the soup in case there is a lot of starch in the split peas so it doesn't boil over. I tend to keep it boiling pretty vigorously for about a half hour and then lower the light and let it cook for several hours. (at least 2 but you can have this soup cooking all day as long as you keep an eye on it.) You will want to make sure it doesn't get too thick as the split peas break down just add more water.

onions, garlic, and carrots ( I added extra carrots in bigger pieces to pull out)

My mom is not what you would call a cook in fact she has very few "meals" she prepared for us when we were growing up but she could always figure out how to open those little bags of Split Pea Soup Mixes. Now that I am older and have developed a number of food allergies I can no longer use the just add water and boil mix bags and have to make it from scratch.

There is no reason that you couldn't make this in a crock pot and brown the onions and garlic right in the crock pot while you are getting ready in the morning. The before you leave put in the carrots and other ingredients and cover with water and allow to cook while you are at work or running around with the kids. You can even put this up the night before and have it nice and hot for a late wake up on the weekend.