Curried Split Pea Soup

When I left school I battled traffic, fought for a parking spot at Target, made my way through the crowds, and made it home incredibly exhausted. I am fighting off a cold and the weather was so dreary. I decided to make soup for dinner. I bought fresh ginger a while back and decided to make a Curried Split Pea soup with homemade croutons and oven roasted asparagus.

Curried Split Pea Soup

Compliments of Vegan with a Vengeance

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a stockpot

Add one small onion and 3 cloves of garlic and saute for five minutes

Mix together 2 teaspoons curry powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon coriander powder

A pinch of cinnamon 

2 tablespoons fresh garlic minced

Add mixture to onion and garlic

Saute for additional minutes

Add 8 cups water and bring to a boil

Add 1 pound rinsed and dried split peas

Turn soup down to medium heat and cook for 60 minutes

Oven Roasted Asparagus

Preheat oven to 275

Cut off rough ends of asparagus

Rinse tops of asparagus and cut in half

Add to glass baking sheet

Mince 2-3 cloves garlic

Add pepper and salt to taste

Drizzle mixture with olive oil

Bake until asparagus is tender

Homemade Croutons 

Cut french bread (not crusty) into cubes

Add to a skillet

Drizzle with olive oil

Cook over medium low heat and turn often

Add any seasonings you wish-I added curry to compliment the soup. You could add pasta sprinkles, garlic powder, etc

The End Products....

I didn't add exactly 2 tablespoons of ginger because I was lazy and didn't want to peel it. I would have like some more in the final product, but John said it was good with the 1 1/2 tablespoons I added. He isn't that big on ginger, so skimping was good. The soup was a bit watery due to the fact I didn't have exactly 16 oz of split peas. Nonetheless, it was tasty and hit the spot. My cat Handel even tried to get the leftovers while we were rinsing dishes. Tonight's meal gets two thumbs up from John and two paws up from Handel.

Happy Cooking!