Creamy Split Pea Soup

When I’m not in the mood to spend hours slaving over lunch, I turn to one of my tried and true recipes. Like this soup. Throw a few things into the pot, bring to a boil, simmer for an hour or so, and puree. Can it get any more simple?

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: : Creamy Split Pea Soup : :

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Adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 9 cups water
• 1 package (16 ounces) dried green split peas
• 2 cups cubed peeled sweet potatoes or russet potatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and celery and cook until tender. Stir in the water, peas, potatoes, bay leaf, salt, thyme and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 70-80 minutes or until peas are tender.
Remove from heat. Discard bay leaf. Using an immersing (stick) blender, puree the soup until completely smooth. Or cool slightly and puree in a blender in batches until smooth. Serve garnished with sour cream, yogurt, cheddar cheese, croutons, or nutmeg.

Yield: 10 servings.

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I’m Back!

I’m finally getting back into the swing of things after over a week of vacation. Please forgive me for the paucity of my posts. Hey, I like how that sounds. Paucity of posts. Paucity of posts.

Anyway.

I promise to be better in future.

Maybe.

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Banana Nut Bread

We’ll be heading out to go skiing tomorrow, so things will be quiet around here for a week or so. I leave you with this recipe…

This recipe makes a moist and flavorful loaf again and again. And can you beleive it’s 100% whole wheat? Serve warm or at room temperature slavered with butter, or spread with cream cheese.

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:: Banana Nut Bread ::

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Adapted from The New Best Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (8 ounces) white whole wheat flour
• 1¼ cups walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped coarse
• ¾ cup sucanat, rapadura, demerara or granulated sugar
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3-4  large, darkly speckled bananas, mashed well (about 1½ cups)
• ¼ cup whole plain yogurt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• 1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Extra banana, for garnish, optional

1) Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and nuts. In a medium bowl, mix the mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla until well blended. Gently fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula just until combined. Batter with be thick and chunky.

3) Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Garnish with slices of banana if desired. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 55-60 minutes.

4) Remove from oven and cool in pan for 5 minutes. Gently loosen the edges with a knife. Transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes one large loaf

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