Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Salt, So your Life May Always Have Flavor...

Salt...yum.

It's a silent killer like an assassin, yet I love it. Still, with my husband going on a low salt /no salt diet, I'm adapting.  What is interesting when you go salt-free or low sodium is that you really get to  taste the flavor of the food. My husband ate his without adding any table salt, but  I still salted my soup, I just didn't use as much as I normally would have. I am not a convert yet...if I make it at all.  Less salt though is good for everyone, so I'm trying.

Here is the peas soup recipe I made this week. It was a vegetarian recipe to start with so it didn't have any ham or ham bone in it which seemed weird to me, but it turned out okay. I got a soup recipe off of  allrecipes.com and then changed it a bit and tweaked it to make it more my own. I like it, once I salted it, that is. My hubby really enjoyed it just the way I made it.

Split Pea Soup

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

3 cloves garlic, minced

1  16 oz bag dried split peas

1/2 cup barley

3 cups low or no sodium vegetable broth

11  cups water

3 carrots, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

2 large potatoes, diced

1/4 cup dried  parsley flakes

3/4 teaspoon dried basil

3/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

1.  The night before, soak split peas in water. Drain peas in the morning.

2.  In a large pot over medium high heat, saute the oil, onion, bay leaf and garlic for 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Add the peas, barley, water, and veggie broth.. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

3.Add the carrots, celery, potatoes, parsley, basil, thyme,  pepper, and 2 pinches of chicken bouillon.  I added this because it needed a little  something. Simmer for another hour, or until the peas and vegetables are tender.

4.  Mash some of the soup with a potato masher.  Take 2 cups of soup and liquefy in a blender. Add  this back into the soup  for consistency.


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