During the winter months, we almost always have some soup in the ‘fridge. It is a perfect winter dinner, and, for me, the perfect winter lunch.
We’ll generally make a pretty good sized pot and have at least a 2 liter container left over.
Yum.
I had done a quicky run to the store to get some whole milk for a cookie I was thinking of making for my niece’s baby shower in a couple of weeks, and saw ham shanks on special. I grabbed one – a reasonably easy dinner…
We always have split peas, different dried beans, and several different types of lentils in the cupboard at any given moment. We get most of them from Palouse Brand just north of us in Washington state. Great quality, great prices!
(I wasn’t crazy about the cookies – okay, but not Baby Shower Quality…)
Victor saw the bone and said he’d make split pea soup. My clever ruse worked!
Split Pea Soup
- 1 ham bone
- 2 qts chicken broth
- 1 qt water
- 1 cup diced onion
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 3 carrots, diced
- 2 1/2 cups lentils
- salt
- pepper
- 1/2 tsp herbs d’Provence
- 2 bay leaves
- splash of Tabasco or cayenne pepper
Sauté onion, celery, and carrots in soup pot. Add broth, water, and bone. Simmer about an hour.
Remove bone. Add lentils and herbs.
Cut any remaining meat from bone and add to pot. Simmer until lentils are cooked through, 20-30 minutes, depending on type of lentils.
Add a splash or two of tabasco. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as desired.
If you want, hit the pot with an immersion blender for a few spins to thicken a bit.
Rich, creamy, spicy, and just thick enough. Perfection in a bowl.
I had it, again for lunch, today – and there’s still another lunch a’waiting!
I have more split peas, red lentils, pardina lentils, garbanzos, and chickpea flour arriving tomorrow!
It does not suck to be me!