Any other moms out there pressed for time but still want to eat great food? :) Silly question, right?

This split pea soup is a life-saver for me because it requires almost no chopping, cooks up in under an hour and tastes delicious. It’s my son’s favorite soup; like hummus, he’ll eat it pretty much any time it’s served, without question. It’s also my favorite “comfort” soup — mild, reminiscent of mashed potatoes (someone recently described it to me as “fluffy,” much like mashed potatoes, in fact) but packed with much more nutritional punch. (If you follow this blog, you’ll know I don’t believe in “comfort food” the way it’s often used in our society because emotional eating is an unhealthy relationship with food. What I mean here is that the soup is mild and yet very flavorful, good early in the morning if you’re not a breakfast person or equally delicious later in the day.)

If I do say so myself, this soup is great on its own, with a salad or your favorite veggie burger. I make it in a double batch at least twice a month, and more often when time is particularly tight. It typically keeps for up to 5 days in the fridge.

Here’s what you need:

2 large or 3 medium onions, chopped finely
1 lb. of dried green split peas, sorted and rinsed well
4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
2.5 no-salt added vegetable bouillon cubes and 5 cups water OR 5 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth
1 1-lb. bag of frozen chopped spinach (or 1 lb. of fresh spinach, chopped), organic if possible
juice of 1 lemon
1-2 tbsp. Vogue Vegebase, Dr. Fuhrman’s VegiZest or similar no-salt-added vegetable-based flavoring if desired

Saute chopped onions in a large soup pot in a teaspoon of olive oil (or as much water as needed) until onions are translucent and very tender (almost to the point of caramelization). Add in minced garlic and heat for 1 minute. Add in dried split peas, bouillon cubes/water or vegetable broth, and spinach. Stir well and bring to a boil, stirring often. Once boiling, cover and allow soup to simmer on low until split peas are tender, stirring occasionally. If soup is bland (depends on the broth or bouillon cubes), add in VegeBase or VegiZest a tablespoon at a time, stirring well.

When soup is fully cooked, remove from heat and add in lemon juice. Stir well and serve.

Healthy eating notes:

I recommend organic spinach for this recipe because non-organic greens contain very high amounts of pesticides. I usually buy Whole Foods’ organic chopped spinach, which works well and is chopped quite finely, which is great for a thick soup like this.

As always, there is no salt added to this recipe because we get enough sodium from whole foods, but you can add some salt to taste (if you must). ;)

Copyright 2009 Jennifer McCay

www.LeanGreenMama.com