Cabbage & Split Pea Soup with Savoring the Thyme {Tales from the Trenches}
Photo by Jennifer of Savoring the Thyme
This is the latest installment of my Tales from the Trenches Series. An ongoing series where friends and readers share their stories and recipes about the great food they fit into family life. We all have tips and tricks to share with each other: when we cook, what we cook and how we cook the delicious food we love to eat. If you are interested in contributing a story and recipe please feel free to contact me. Today my friend Jennifer from Savoring the Thyme is sharing a recipe for a favorite family meal she makes while her kids are at school. It is hearty, healthy and perfect for fall!
Jennifer, tell us a little bit about yourself:
1) How would you describe your approach to food in three sentences or less: I adore simple, quality meals made with smiles, love and fun. I do my best to use whole real foods and keep processed foods to a minimum but when it is time for treats, I guiltlessly dive in.
2) What is your favorite winter dinner party menu?: Shrimp Mozambique, Quinoa Chili and The Best Dip Ever. Not necessarily served together but they are some of my favorites to serve company.
3) Sweet or salty?: Salty, salty salty followed by a touch of sweet….then salty again. My favorite snack is cheese with fresh bakery bread.
4) Favorite Cookbook?: I would say that the cookbook I have referenced most for the past 15 years would be ‘How to Cook Everything’ by Mark Bittman. However, note that I had a custom bookshelf built in the house and two shelves are full of cookbooks. Here is a photo of the bookshelf.
5) Guilty Pleasure? Buying latte bowls at Anthropologie followed by a trip to Pinkberry….seasonally.
6) Jennifer, as a mom two kids, what is your favorite family recipe for making during your down time?: Last winter my husband declared, out of the blue, his love of cabbage split pea soup. This startling discovery prompted me to run to the store, gather the ingredients and spend a lovely evening making the soup with my husband. The following day, the kids came home from school early thanks to another weekly snow storm. I served this soup to warm them and honestly expected the soup to be pushed aside but to my surprise it was a huge hit. In fact, I make one batch almost weekly in the fall and winter on the weekends and stock the freezer. I pull a container out in the morning for it to thaw and then serve it with fresh bread. You can also prep the ingredients quickly during lunchtime or even the evening before and then the soup created at dinnertime.
Recipe
Cabbage Pea Soup
Ingredients
| 1 | cup dried split green peas (you can use yellow if you prefer) |
| 7 | cups of water |
| 2 | Tablespoons vegetable or olive oil |
| ½ | sweet onion, chopped |
| 2 | cloves garlic, chopped |
| 2 | stalks celery, chopped |
| 1 | carrots, chopped |
| 4 | cups low sodium chicken broth |
| 2 | russet potatoes, roughly chopped |
| 1 | pinch salt and ground pepper |
| ½ | head cabbage (green, red or savoy) chopped into bite-sized pieces (about 7 cups) |
Instructions
1. Pour peas and seven cups of water in large pot and bring to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes.
2. Once the peas are boiling, use another large pot or Dutch oven to heat 2 Tablespoons oil over medium to medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and cook for 5 additional minutes, stirring often.
3. To the onions and garlic, add the celery and carrots and cook another 5-10 minutes, stirring often.
4. To the peas, add the potatoes and continue to boil another 10 minutes. To the onion mixture, add 4 cups of the broth and bring to temperature.
5. Pour the peas and potato mixture into the pot containing the onion etc. Blend the ingredients using an immersion blender. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Add the cabbage to the pot and allow to cook over medium heat, for 1 minute or so until the cabbage is wilted.
love seeing you two great girls in the same post! It’s so great getting to know Jen better. Wish we could all get together and go out to dinner again, but sadly I’m so far away.
Perfect for a rainy day 🙂