La Platicona Habla: Tastes, Passions and Pursuits

Split peas, part of that lovely legume family, were the focus of my culinary experiment after eating a delicious bowl of yellow split pea soup from a middle eastern restaurant in Denver. I savored every bite of this soup and attempted to decipher all of its ingredients. While I was unable to do just that, I did manage to come up with a darn close version.
My only regret is that I did not cook the split peas long enough, so they turned out a little tougher than I would have wanted. This yellow split pea recipe will almost complete the split pea/daal soup array of recipes posted on this site. If you’ve never tried split peas, I suggest starting with the green split pea soup recipe first because its flavors are more common than the seasonings used for this dish.

You will need:
- 2 c of yellow split peas (pick through them and pick out the rotten ones)
- 3 c of vegetable or chicken stock
- 4 c of water
- ½ finely diced yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp whole cumin seeds
- handful of chopped flat leafed Italian parsley
- juice from 1 lime
- salt & pepper to taste
- basmati rice, cooked

Step One: In a crockpot, combine the split peas, stock, water, spices (except Italian parsley), garlic, and onion. Put the crockpot on low and cook all day while away at work, or on high for 4 hours.
If you don’t have a crockpot, place the garlic and onions in a stock pot and sauté with 3 tbsp of olive oil. When translucent, add spices, split peas, stock, and water. Bring to a boil; turn this down to medium and cover it. Cook this for 1-2 hours until the peas are very soft. Stir this so it won’t stick to the bottom.

Step Two: When cooked, add the juice of one lime and stir in the Italian parsley. Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve this over cooked basmati rice, or eat as a soup. If you want more liquid, add more stock (1 c at a time) and cook for another 10 minutes until warm.

Labels: Italian parsley, lemon, split peas

I never have anything bad to say about any legume - after all, I grew up on beans and I could never betray them by chiding them on this blog. However, my one complaint is how long it takes these little things to cook. These green split peas are very scrumptious, but require a bit of cooking. I promise that the taste is worth the wait though, and there isn’t much to this recipe so it should be a good starter for new cooks.

You will need:
- 2 c green split peas;
- 4 cloves minced garlic;
- ½ of a small white onion, diced;
- 2 large carrots, diced;
- 2-3 stalks of celery, diced (depends how much you like it);
- 1 medium potato, diced (I used 5 fingerling potatoes);
- handful of chopped Italian parsley;
- 4 c vegetable stock;
- 1 c white wine;
- 2 c water;
- salt and pepper to taste; chile piquin crushed for flavor.

Step One: sauté the garlic, onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, and chile piquin in a large stock pot with ¼ c of olive oil until onions are translucent (cook over medium-high heat). This takes about 7 minutes.

Step Two: stir in white wine and cook off for about 3 minutes. Add split peas, vegetable stock, water, and cover pot. Reduce heat to medium so that the ingredients will simmer for 1 hour. Stir occasionally and add more water if necessary. Consistency should be slightly thick and the peas should be a little past al dente. If not to the desired thickness, cook for another 20 minutes, carefully making sure the liquid doesn't all cook off.

Step Four: stir in freshly chopped parsley; add salt/pepper to taste and serve. Optional: add ¼ c of heavy cream and cook for another 10 minutes.

Labels: soup, split peas