It’s another soup night in our house…the weather and my health are calling for it.

Tonight, I’m trying one of my favorites… smashed pea soup.  My oldest daughter used to love the one from Amy’s Organics.  She ate it at least twice a day as a baby.  But, now… well… it is green, so… well… you know.

I Googled the Smashed Pea & Barley soup from CPK and found the recipe here.

But, as a budding intuitive cook, I used the recipe as a guideline and spend more time tinkering than really following directions.  What’s an intuitive cook, you ask… well, if you spend more time assessing ingredients and making choices based on what you know and what you have to work with rather than reading recipes, you’re an intuitive cook.  Let’s put it this way, in class, we need to follow the recipe to the letter so that we understand what works and what doesn’t with the goal of never using a recipe again.  Now, that’s my type of cooking!

I’m also lousy at following directions, so this type of cooking plays right to my strengths… now, if only there was intuitive baking.

I changed the recipe quite a bit, but it came out yummy.  The girls each took a bite and then immediately spat it out and made gagging sounds, but that was to be expected.  My husband admitted that he actually liked it.  So, there you have it.  I’m calling it a success.

{deena}

 

Pea and Barley Soup

• 1/2 pound of dried, split peas (washed and picked through)
• 1/4 cup of barley (I would use less next time)
• 1 qt. of water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1/2 tsp. of soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp. of fresh thyme
• 1/2 tsp. of fresh sage
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
• 3/4 c. of carrots, small dice
• 1/3 c. of onion, small dice
• 1 stack of celery, small dice

1. Sweat the carrots, onion, celery and garlic in a pot for about 8 minutes in a little bit of vegetable oil.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
3. Season generously with salt and pepper.
4. Garnish with green scallion.