I feel like pea soup is one of those soups you either love or hate. There’s no middle road. If you hate pea soup you shouldn’t.

I make mine with mustard and turmeric. I have no idea where this came from because I grew up on pea soup made with ham hock, which is delicious btw. I’m not sure exactly why or when I started putting mustard in it but my guess is that I modified it without the ham for a healthier version and then used whatever was in my fridge to flavor these dried peas. Its how a lot of my odd pairings come to light) In any case…I’m glad I did. It makes this soup totally addictive.

Its an easy, cheap, hearty, vegan, gluten free soup.

It takes 10 minutes to prepare and up to 2 hours to cook.

olive oil for sautéing

2 medium carrots

2 stalks celery

1 medium onion

1 bag of split peas ( yellow or green) (soaking overnight will shorten your cooking time by about half but its not necessary if you have the time to cook them longer)

6 cups vegetable stock

2 tablespoons quality mustard

1 tablespoon turmeric

4 or 5 sprigs of thyme

• Sauté carrots, celery, onion in olive oil until vegetables are tender

• Add turmeric and gently sauté (turn the heat down if necessary) in oil for about 3 minutes. Turmeric is a spice that has to “bloom” ( by heating ) to richen and deepen its flavor.

• Add stock, peas and thyme sprigs

• bring to a simmer

• about half way through the cooking time add mustard

  -cook this soup until desired consistency, the longer you cook it the thicker it will get and the softer the peas will get. If it becomes too thick you can add water at any time to loosen it.

• add salt and pepper at the end to taste ( when cooking soups that will reduce for a bit ( reducing will make things taste saltier) I add the salt at the end to ensure I won’t over salt

ENJOY!