Non dairy split pea soup

Susan recently posted about making split pea soup for her family.

I remember when I was little my mom would make grilled cheese or garlic cheese bread along with split pea soup so that we had something we liked along with something we didn't like. (But we were expected to eat both.)

My family loves split pea soup. Because Lamb #1 couldn't have dairy, we searched and found this recipe. It is from What to Cook When you Think There's Nothing in the House to Eat by Arthur Schwartz. Ram LOVES this recipe book. I often catch him reading this recipe book, not just to find recipes, but he enjoys READING the information. (When I looked this book up on Amazon, a used copy is 24 cents, but you have to pay shipping.)

Split Pea Soup

2 cups green or yellow split peas
1 cup finely chopped carrot
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped celery
7 cups water
1 large bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper
homemade croutons (optional)

You can chop the vegetables in the food processor. We don't do that, it's ok with us if it's a little chunky.

1. Combine all ingredients except salt and pepper and croutons in a large pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer about 50 minutes until peas are soft.

2. It says to puree the peas and vegetables in a food processor or blender in 2 or 3 batches. We don't do this, we don't mind it chunky.

3. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Return to a simmer and cook briefly to make very hot for serving with or without croutons. The soup will keep for several days in the refrigerator, but you will need to add more water when it is reheated.

You can add a ham bone, ham hock, or bacon to this. We have made it both ways, with and without ham and it is good. I like the pea flavor. You could also use canned broth for some of the water or add a chicken bouillon cube. We usually make it without meat and with one can of broth with the water. We don't always make the croutons, but that is really good on it.

I like this recipe because you can make it the way you like it. It's a really cheap way to make it without meat or milk too. And it's a healthy way to make it if you leave out the salt. And it's a fast recipe, done in about an hour. We plan to continue to make this recipe for our family even though the Lambs can have more dairy now.