Recipes

[Sooner]

@violann  I never soak green peas either.  They cook quickly and if you go them too long they will turn to mush.  

I saute some onion first, add broth or water and usually some diced carrots, salt and pepper and simmer gently until they are as soft as I want them.  You can mash up a few and leave a few more whole and that's the way I like them.  Not too thick and mushy!  

[Moonlady]

I've been making split pea soup for decades, and have never soaked them; as with lentils, it's not necessary.

[miata1]

I have never soaked the split green peas or lentils but I do soak and clean them good. For split pea soup, I add water and chicken broth and cook, then I add sliced carrots, chopped green peppers, chopped onion, celery, chopped up ham, chopped up red pepper, salt and pepper, It comes out so good and when serving, we add sour cream on top. For lentil soup, I add water and chicken broth, and no ham, but add all of the same vegetables mentioned here but I also add a can of stewed tomatoes to that.  My mother always put tomatoes in her lentil soup and it perks it up a bit. We put parmesan cheese on the lentil soup.  I usually make a big pot of each soup and then put containers in the freezer and it is so handy to have.

[chickenbutt]

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@PinkyPetunia wrote:

I believe there are cooking directions on the package of split peas.  I make split pea soup in the crockpot.  So easy!  It makes a lot so I freeze the soup in 2 cup containers.

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I've always seen directions on the bags.   But one thing I do for my split pea soup is that I use about half as much water as it says on the bag.  I don't like it to be watery, so that might be something to contemplate.

I just do mine in a pot on the stove.   I portion out a bunch of it into L&L containers, freezer them, then pop them out  of the L&L and vacuum seal each one.  That way they stay pristine for years.   

I still have some of my split pea soup, as well as some of my turkey chili, in the freezers from several years ago.  Used one of the chili one day recently and it was like I just made it.  I have a little round LeCreuset pot that exactly fits the portions I make so I can just take it out of the freezer, remove from vac-bag, pop it into the LC pot, and heat it up, covered, on med-low until it's thawed and hot.