Crock Pot Split Pea Soup
I accidentally made the greatest split pea soup EVER. Be warned, I used a TON of herbs because I get them super cheap in bulk. Basically I was sick with zombiedeathplague, so I threw a bunch of stuff in the crock pot, then went to sleep for a few hours. Because I was in a Nyquil-induced fog, I didn’t really make good measurements, but this is pretty close. You need:
1 16 oz. bag of split peas
2 tbspn dried basil
5 bay leaves
2 tbspn dried parsley
1 tbspn chopped garlic
10 cups of water and 4 bullion cubes, or 6 cups water, 4 of broth
1 cup textured vegetable protein
To make it vegan use veggie broth, and add a tablespoon or two of olive oil.
To make it meaty, add a cup of chopped ham or sausage.
Throw everything in the crock pot, and set it to cook for 4 hours. Mine ended up being too brothy, so I added a cup of textured vegetable protein. If you don’t want to do that, reduce the water by at least 2 cups. When it’s done cooking, add salt and pepper to taste.
This stuff was so thick, hearty and nutritious, I couldn’t get enough. It’s great for this cold, rainy weather, and it’s VERY filling, with a ton of fiber and protein. You could throw in even more of the spices I used, or even add cumin, or chipotle. My favorite part of this recipe is how easy it is. You can also keep all the ingredients in the pantry to make in an illness emergency. I just finished the last of it today, and I might make more tomorrow. IT’S THAT GOOD.
Spicy Baked Lentils
You may have noticed that I like to cook a whole bunch of food at once to I don’t have to do it every night. The other day I washed and cut up 2 heads of cauliflower, and threw them in a baking dish with olive oil and garlic salt. Since the oven was already on and the cutting board was already dirty, I decided to bake some lentils, too. They were already cooked (the night before I made pasta, and since the pot was already dirty I threw a whole bag of lentils in to boil while we were eating dinner. Noticing a pattern?).
I chopped up the remains of a white onion, 2 raw jalapenos, and some red onion, for a total of 1/2 cup of large chunks of onion.
The laready cooked, refridgerated lentils, fresh out of their tupperware:
Yes, that’s a Star Wars cup in the background. I mixed the ingredients in the pan to avoid dirtying extra dishes.
I added 3 tablespoons or so of olive oil to moisten it up, 1/4 cup good parmesan cheese, and probably 2 teaspoons or less of garlic salt. You can make it spicier by adding chili powder, or Sriracha. Once it was done cooking, we each added Sriracha to our own portions to control the level of spiciness. Hubby like things way spicier than I do. You can make it vegan by leaving out the cheese or using a vegan cheese substitute. I haven’t tried those, so I’m not sure how it would work. You can also add some cumin for additional flavor.
I baked it at 350 for 30 minutes or so, until it was bubbling and a little crispy around the edges. The veggies had cooked a little bit, but they were still fairly crunchy, which I liked. You could always saute them before mixing them into the lentils if you want them more done, but I liked the variety of textures.
