Split Pea Soup

Finally!  I put it off two times last week, and tonight at last I made the much-anticipated split pea soup.  To be honest, I don't know why I was so excited about this.  It's not like I'm a super huge split pea fan or anything.  I don't ever remember even eating the stuff growing up, and hardly have I eaten it in my adulthood.  There's a place I drive by on some of my travels called "Pea Soup Andersen's" and I get so excited everytime I pass it.  I finally stopped there in September to try this famous pea soup.  Before that, I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I had the green soup.  It was so good at Andersen's that I vowed to try a recipe at home.  Five months later and here we are.

At first I turned to the classic cookbook by Betty Crocker.  Since split pea soup is practically an American pastime, I was sure Ms. Crocker would have the best recipe.  I would simply substitute the ham with a veggie version.  But then I remembered my Skinny B* girls had a split pea recipe!  Once again Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin swooped in and stole the show with their amazing vegan recipe.  So far, I have not been disappointed with any of their recipes, and it just goes to show why the Skinny B series is number one in the country right now.  (World?)  I don't actually know what their statistics are, but I just saw the Editor-in-Chief of one of my magazines reading it in the February 2011 issue.

Anyway -- look up their recipe for Split Pea Soup and make it immediately.  It's better than Andersen's, I promise.

The Skinny B recipe doesn't say to blend it after it's cooked, but I did anyway and then added cooked barley for some extra thickness.  Let me just say that my husband has been skeptical and more than a little hesitant about this split pea situation; but he cleaned his whole bowl in five seconds flat before giving me a sheepish grin and announcing he was going back for seconds.  The warm, freshly baked bread didn't hurt the situation either.