appease your crowd with split pea soup

ahh, split peas.  those awful little green buttons which had me running the other way as a child the minute they were pulled from the pantry. the truth is that I don’t recall ever actually eating split pea soup when I was younger, though I know it was made in our house, so I’m pretty sure I dismissed them without ever giving them a chance. there are certain foods that I detested simply because of the name or color, not because I actually hated the taste, and split peas must be one of those foods.

but now I’m older and wiser, and it’s been many years since I’ve turned my nose in disgust to all foods green & healthy.  split pea soup is now one of my favorite winter foods – it’s hearty, packed with protein, and extremely easy to make.  this recipe can be tweaked a thousand different ways to give it a different flavor profile or to include whatever vegetables you have in your kitchen.  dried peas are wonderful for stabilizing blood sugar, plus they contain almost no fat and help to lower cholesterol.  they are packed with isoflavones, which are important phytonutrients (nutrients from plants) that are said to reduce the risk of cancer. 

this is the perfect soup for a rainy or lazy day, and it tastes even better the next day.  when reheating it you may want to add a bit of water as it gets very thick in the refrigerator. 

(a special shout out to Kambria Hooper, for providing the title to this entry)

Split Pea Soup

yields 4 servings

 

1 cup split peas

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, finely minced

1 medium onion, small dice

1 medium carrot, small dice

1 stalk celery, small dice

1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger

1 small potato, small dice

1 bay leaf

5 cups water

1 teaspoon sea salt + additional salt to taste

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon cumin

pinch cayenne

juice from ½ lemon

chopped parsley to garnish

1. Measure out & wash split peas.  Soak covered in water for a half-hour to several hours. 
2. In a large stock pot, bring heat up to medium and add olive oil.  Add onions & sweat until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and stir for another 1 minute.  Add carrots, celery & ginger and stir infrequently, about 5 minutes until carrots soften.
3. Add potato, split peas & water and bring to a boil.  Stir in the salt, turmeric, cumin & cayenne, and bring heat down to a simmer.  Simmer partially covered for 1 hour or until peas are soft.  Add more salt to taste, if necessary.
4. Sprinkle with parsley and enjoy!  This is delicious with fresh bread & sausage.

get your greens in

it’s winter time and no matter your location, you’re probably seeing a lot of dark, leafy greens in your local farmer’s markets.  my friends Roni & Adam received their CSA box this week from Mariquita Farms in Watsonville, CA.  the box was filled with greens of all sorts, from curly-leaf parsley to bitter mizuna, to broad, waxy leaves of collard greens. 

dark, leafy greens, such as collards, are extremely important in our diet.  they offer up the same amount of calcium as milk, without all the drama (pasteurized/homogenized milk is difficult to digest, filled with additives and hormones and all sorts of bodily fluids you don’t even want to think about…).  leafy greens are a wonderful source of iron, calcium, and vitamins A & C. 

my favorite way to prepare collards & other leafy greens is to chiffonade them then sauté on high heat for a short amount of time.  play around with them, they’re a wonderful addition to pretty much any dish you can think of. 

here’s a rough sketch of how we made these delicious eggs – a superb breakfast made with all local foods:

1.  remove the stems of the greens.  chiffonade by stacking them up, rolling tightly, then cutting into thin strips.

2.  heat a saucepan on medium-high.  add a small amount of butter, olive oil or coconut oil, and allow to heat up.  add greens with salt, pepper & a dash of red pepper flakes, and sauté quickly for about 5 minutes or until soft.  remove from heat and set aside.

3.  mix eggs with a touch of organic milk, salt & pepper.  heat up saucepan again with small amount of butter (unless pan is already greasy from the greens) on a medium heat.  once hot, add eggs and stir every so often.  after 3-4 minutes add greens and any other ingredients you like (we used farm-fresh goat feta & avocado).  continue to stir until eggs are almost completely cooked through and remove from heat.

4.  serve immediately & enjoy!

local or organic? i'll take both please.

lots of changes have happened since my last blog entry, and I am now writing to you from San Francisco, having recently attended the Hazon Food Conference.  Hazon is a Jewish environmental organization whose mission is “to create a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community – as a step towards a healthier and more sustainable world for all.”  in addition to the food conference, now in its third year, they organize various environmental programming, such as bike rides in Israel and New York, a daily food blog (the Jew & the Carrot) and the first Jewish Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in North America.

the food conference offered a variety of workshops from sourdough making & pickling classes, to discussions on Jewish farming principles & panels on environmentalism and organic farming.  one of the keynote speeches, titled The Ethics of Eating: Creating a New Food Future for the 21^st Century, was led by Andrew Kimbrell, the Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety.  Kimbrell led us in a fascinating discussion about the food that we put in our bodies, where it comes from, and the huge (and often unfortunate) role our government plays in this food.  we heard a lot about genetically engineered food and the government’s despicable label – GRAS, generally recognized as safe – which assumes that genetically engineered food is fine for us if it looks, smells and tastes like the non-GMO version of that food, without offering any research to the contrary. 

at the Natural Gourmet Institute, where I received my formal culinary training, they teach 5 key characteristics one should look for in the food they eat: local, organic, whole, fresh & seasonal (there are many others, including non-irradated, real, and non-GMO).  one of the problems we face as consumers is that irradiated and GMO Frankenstein foods are often not labeled as such.  so what can we do in our daily lives & everyday choices to avoid these foods and nourish our bodies with healthy, sustainable foods?  Andrew Kimbrell offered three simple answers (though, as he pointed out, he could have offered 30): eat organic, eat local AND organic, and NEVER eat industrial meat.  organically certified foods are guaranteed non-GMO, and supporting your local farmers is good for your own health, your community, and the world at large.

what you eat directly supports your values, because where your food dollars go is possibly the most influential decision you make on a daily basis.  Kimbrell reminded us that while we only get to decide on our president and our representatives once every four years, and while it takes years to get certain bills and regulations into action, there is one vote we can make every single day.  and that is our vote on the kinds of foods and farmers we support – and that’s a vote can be cast at this very moment.

for information on farmer’s markets near you: http://apps.ams.usda.gov/FarmersMarkets/

to support the Organic Farmers Action Network: www.ofrf.org

for information on the Hazon Food Conference: http://www.hazon.org/go.php?q=/food/conference/2008FC/theHazonFoodConference.html