{"id":729,"date":"2010-03-17T16:34:32","date_gmt":"2010-03-17T16:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/?p=729"},"modified":"2010-03-17T16:34:32","modified_gmt":"2010-03-17T16:34:32","slug":"more-about-green-soups-and-the-color-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/more-about-green-soups-and-the-color-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"More about Green Soups and the Color Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Maybe it&#8217;s spring, maybe it&#8217;s St. Patrick&#8217;s Day, but green is on my mind.\u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/2010\/03\/16\/pity-poor-pea-soup\/\" target=\"_blank\">Yesterday&#8217;s post <\/a>delved into the problem with green pea soups and how to evolve past the &#8220;Eeew!&#8221; factor.\u00a0 Garnishes are a godsend.<\/p>\n<p>Brighten pea green with some color and their appeal soars.\u00a0 Yesterday&#8217;s sweet pea soup was brightened up with roasted red and yellow peppers.\u00a0 Here, split pea is paired with deep purple cabbage for a color combo that is actually quite lovely, especially for spring.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mceTemp mceIEcenter\">\n<dl class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n<dt class=\"wp-caption-dt\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Split Pea Soup topped with Frizzled Purple Cabbage\" src=\"http:\/\/i722.photobucket.com\/albums\/ww230\/mcolletterogers\/Artwork%20for%20Work\/Blog%20Pics\/Split_Pea_Soup_Cabbage_Garnish3.jpg\" alt=\"Split Pea Soup topped with Frizzled Purple Cabbage\" width=\"409\" height=\"246\" \/><\/dt>\n<dd class=\"wp-caption-dd\">Use color to eliminate the &#8220;Eeew&#8221; factor that so often accompanies pea soups. Here, frizzled purple cabbage creates an appealing color combo.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<p>In case you need a good split pea recipe, my basic follows.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Diced potatoes, celery and carrots &#8220;thin&#8221; the intensity of the split peas, while adding some nice texture.\u00a0 More vegetable nutrition is another bonus.<\/li>\n<li>Make the soup as thick or thin as desired by using more or less broth.\u00a0 I personally don&#8217;t like mine thick enough to hold a spoon upright, so I use most of the broth called for.<\/li>\n<li>Bacon adds a characteristic flavor, but is definitely optional.\u00a0 In the past, I have used a combination of a little soy sauce, light miso and soy milk for a flavor substitute, but this is not necessary\u2014just a fun idea to play with.<\/li>\n<li>A <a href=\"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/2008\/07\/25\/crockpots-and-slow-cookers-what-is-a-good-slow-cooker-recipe\/\" target=\"_blank\">past blog<\/a> explored what makes a recipe good for slow cooking.\u00a0 Split Pea Soup fits the bill perfectly.\u00a0 You can throw everything in the pot and forget about it all day. \u00a0 As you&#8217;ll see from this recipe, however, I use a 2-step process that works better with my schedule. I put the peas on to cook in the morning when I don&#8217;t have much time.\u00a0 The remaining ingredients get prepped and added at the end of the day.\u00a0 Another advantage of this process:\u00a0 the vegetables don&#8217;t get overcooked and the spices retain more of their flavor.<\/li>\n<li>No time for slow cooking?\u00a0 See the pressure cooker option at the end of the recipe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Mary&#8217;s Basic Split Pea Soup, Dressed up with Frizzled Purple Cabbage<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>2 cups dried split peas<\/li>\n<li>4 cups water<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Combine in slow cooker, cover and cook over low heat 6-8 hours until almost tender.\u00a0 (If you&#8217;re in a hurry, bring the water to a boil before adding and\/or cook on high rather than low heat.)\u00a0 About 2 hours before mealtime, turn slow cooker to high and stir in:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>3 medium potatoes, diced into small, 1\/2&#8243; cubes<\/li>\n<li>4-5 medium carrots, shredded (on a box grater)<\/li>\n<li>2 cups Imagine Vegetable Broth (plus 1-2 cups more to thin, as desired)<\/li>\n<li>2 bay leaves<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Next, heat a large, heavy bottomed saut\u00e9 pan over medium heat.\u00a0 Fry:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>3-4 slices of high-quality, lean bacon, cut into 1\/2&#8243; pieces<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>After the bacon has rendered a little fat into the pan, stir in and saut\u00e9 about 5-7 minutes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 large onion, diced to 1\/4&#8243;<\/li>\n<li>4 stalks celery, diced to 1\/4&#8243;<\/li>\n<li>2 tsp. dried leaf thyme<\/li>\n<li>1 tsp. dried leaf marjoram<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Stir saut\u00e9ed vegetables into soup.\u00a0 (Don&#8217;t bother washing saut\u00e9 pan; it will be used again for the cabbage.)\u00a0\u00a0 Continue cooking soup over high heat until potatoes and split peas are very tender.\u00a0 If desired, add more vegetable broth if soup gets too thick.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2 cups red cabbage sliced very thinly (about 1\/4 of a medium head)<\/li>\n<li>1 Tbsp. olive oil<\/li>\n<li>Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Just before serving, reheat saut\u00e9 pan over medium high heat, add oil and when it is quite hot but not smoking, add cabbage.\u00a0 Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then cook, stirring fairly frequently, until cabbage just begins to soften and wilt. \u00a0Remove from heat.<\/p>\n<p>Taste soup and add salt and pepper, to taste.\u00a0 Then serve in bowls, topped with red cabbage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pressure Cooker Option:<\/strong> Lorna Sass, the master of pressure cooking, makes a similar recipe (but uses sweet potatoes and apples for something different.)\u00a0 She saut\u00e9s the onion and celery in the slow cooker, throws in everything else and cooks at high pressure for 10 minutes.\u00a0 After a natural release period of 20 minutes, the soup is done\u2014and just as tasty as cooking all day in the slow cooker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maybe it&#8217;s spring, maybe it&#8217;s St. Patrick&#8217;s Day, but green is on my mind.\u00a0\u00a0 Yesterday&#8217;s post delved into the problem with green pea soups and how to evolve past the &#8220;Eeew!&#8221; factor.\u00a0 Garnishes are a godsend. Brighten pea green with some color and their appeal soars.\u00a0 Yesterday&#8217;s sweet pea soup was brightened up with roasted &#8230; <a title=\"More about Green Soups and the Color Problem\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/more-about-green-soups-and-the-color-problem\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}