soup and bread

If you ask me, one of the best, simplest suppers around, especially during the fall and winter, would be soup and bread.  Soup and bread is one of those meals that can be virtuously healthy or rich and comforting, depending on your particular soup and bread chosen, and always yields plenty of leftovers for midweek lunches.  :)

Sunday, I chose a virtuously healthy soup, and paired it with a rich and comforting muffin for, in my opinion, a nicely balanced supper.  :)

Smoky Split Pea Soup, from Vegetarian Times:
















I love the sweet-spiciness of this soup, and also that I was able to use up quite a few pantry ingredients!  My split peas were likely past their prime, so they didn't soften as much as I would have liked them to, but the soup was still excellent.  We had our fill on Sunday night, and then ended up with enough soup leftover for four lunches this week.  Score.

On the side, Cheese Muffins, from The Pioneer Woman:

Admittedly, I've never made this recipe as written.  The original recipe calls for THREE CUPS of shredded colby-jack cheese.  Part of me just can't handle adding that much cheese to a muffin recipe, part of me just can't afford to add that much cheese to a muffin recipe.  :)  So, I cut the cheese down to 2 cups (still decadent,) use a more assertive cheese (usually sharp cheddar,) and add a cup of thinly sliced green onions.  Deeeeeeelicious!

What is your favorite soup and bread combination?

cleaning out my cupboards

I have been on a mission recently -- a mission to clean out my freezer and cupboards. I'm not entirely certain as to why I'm on a roll in this department -- maybe I want to get stuff cleared out before the intense heat of summer, when things go bad faster and I don't cook much? I bet that's it. Anyhow, I emptied out my jar of wild rice earlier this week, and made headway towards clearing out my stash of green split peas tonight:

Smoky Split Pea Soup is, in my opinion, the ONLY thing to do with split peas. So, so delicious. But maybe I'm wrong? Any other stellar split pea recipes out there?

Weekend in food!

Meals from the weekend - whole wheat pancakes and breakfast sausages,

burritos,

and Smoky Split Pea Soup with Cheese Muffins.

YUM!

split pea soup

As a child, split pea soup never really appealed to me -- I HATED green peas, (and they are still not my favorite vegetable,) so, in my young mind, I decided that split pea soup must taste like mushy, overcooked, canned green peas. Ew!

BUT, to my surprise and delight, that is NOT the case! Split green peas cook up soft and smooth, similar to red lentils, (although they don't fall apart as much,) and take on many of the flavors you add to the pot. Probably why split pea soups are usually made with ham, a flavorful, but very NON-veg ingredient!

What's a split-pea lovin' veggie to do? Make Smoky Split Pea Soup!

This is an excellent recipe as is, especially since it does NOT contain carrots, my least-favorite vegetable. (But I do love love love sweet potatoes! Great swap, VT!) I like to semi-puree the soup with my Bamix, which gives the soup a thick, hearty, velvety texture, but you can definitely leave it brothy if you prefer!

For some reason, I always seem to crave biscuits with split-pea soup:

Tonight, I made vegan, half-whole-wheat "buttermilk" drop biscuits to go with my bowl of soup. Mmmmmmmmm! Recipe:

Combine:
3/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup non-dairy milk of your choice

Combine:
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup AP flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soday
1/4 tsp salt

Cut into flour mixture:
1/2 cup (1 stick) non-hydrogenated vegan margarine

Stir milk mixture into flour/marg mixture just until everything is moistened. Drop by scant 1/4-cupfulls onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake at 450 about 16 minutes, or until bottoms are well-browned. (Keep in mind that whole-wheat baked goods will brown a little more than white ones.) Remove to a cooling rack, but serve warm if possible!

Do you have a wonderful split-pea soup recipe to share? I'm always up for trying another version!

Vermont Cheddar Bread

I'm really enjoying this bake-a-long that Victoria, Crystal, and I are busy with! It's been a very casual, fun, and low-pressure way to try out a bunch of new bread recipes.

Like . . . last night's Vermont Cheddar Rolls:

Oh, so yum! Still warm from the oven and slathered with butter, these were just about the best thing in the whole wide world. The dough might even need more cheese next time . . . :)

Served the rolls alongside . . .

"Smoky Split Pea Soup," from the most recent issue of Vegetarian Times. Pretty quick and easy for a weeknight, given I used split peas from the co-op, (high turnover means quicker cooking times, I've found,) and dang tasty, too! I especially enjoyed the sweet potato instead of the more traditional carrot -- I love sweet potatoes, and don't love carrots! Isn't that weird?

Tonight, I wanted even faster, less-complicated fare:

Pasta and salad never fail to satisfy.

AND NOW . . . I need your help! I have been dealing with a monster mac and cheese craving for days now . . . I'm talking, instant mac-in-a-box type craving! I might try making some stovetop mac from scratch this weekend -- anyone have a good recipe they love?? Please share!