Shabbat Cooking: Split Pea Soup

This past week, Jerusalem geared up for a massive snow storm. Last year, we were hit with a huge snow storm which shut down the whole city. Many neighborhoods lost electricity and were snowed in. The municipality was determined to be better prepared for this year's storm and while they were, the snow storm was pretty much a dud. The heaviest snow fell on Friday and it was purely magical, bringing back fond memories of my New York childhood. (Snow is far from a regular occurrence here in Jerusalem, so this was very exciting.)

Knowing that it would be freezing out (and we have no heat in our apartment!), I knew that I would want to be all bundled up at home instead of walking some place for Shabbat dinner. I figured I'd make a soup and call it a day. And that's exactly what I did. I already knew that I was going to make split pea soup as I had all of the ingredients on hand. Thursday night, I pulled out my slow cooker and got to work.

I decided to make the soup Thursday night because every time I made a stew in the slow cooker, it didn't seem to have cooked long enough. In the case of the split pea soup, making it Friday morning would have been just fine, too.

Split pea soup is probably the easiest thing I've ever made. Literally. And I'm a cook in progress. I just layered split peas, onions, carrots, some garlic, spices and water in a pot, covered it and walked away. I let the time do all the work. I will say that the longer it cooks, the thicker it gets and the deeper the flavor becomes. Feel free to doctor it up as you wish-- really, soup is probably the most flexible thing you can make.

 I've been really getting bang for my buck with this soup as I've been stretching it for additional meals, enjoying it with whole wheat pasta to round out my dinner. Cheap and easy. Kind of can't wait to make it again.

Split Pea Soup
adapted from a bunch of recipes on the internet

2 cups green split peas
2 small onions, chopped
1 cup chopped carrots
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp (just give a healthy shake) ground black pepper
6 cups water

Layer the peas, onions and carrots  into your slow cooker. Add the garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour the water over and give a little stir. Cover and cook on low or high until it's done to your liking. I wish I could be more specific with times, but I just let the thing cook and cook.

Enjoy with pasta or a salad, which is how I'll enjoy mine tonight.


To health!