Curried Split Pea Soup

I had some of the leftover carrot miso soup earlier in the week, and was then considering what soup would be a complement for the remainder of the week. Rather than trying something new, I decided to go for one of my tried and true recipes from Vegan with a Vengeance. First, a note about Vegan with a Vengeance—this book seriously changed my life. My dad got if for me for Hanukkah about 8 years ago. I think that he read a review of it in the New York Times or something like that. This book was my introduction to veganism. Although I’ve never identified as a true vegan, I have eaten a primarily vegan diet off and on (and always a vegetarian diet) since he got it for me. As such, I was able to lower my cholesterol to healthy levels, and have upped both my cooking skills and scope. Some of my absolute favorite recipes are in this book. My peanut sauce go-to recipe, my carrot ginger soup, my seitan recipe, tofu ricotta, and I could go on… More VWAV soup recipes will surely be reviewed here.

For now, back to the split peas. I think of Split Pea Soup as one of those polarizing foods—love it or hate it. I’ve loved it ever since my mom would make the Manischewitz dried mix kind as a kid.  I’ll fully admit that when I want a standard split pea soup, I still go for the cellophane wrapped tube of dried peas, barley, dehydrated onions and carrots, and spice packet (amazingly sold in the itty bitty kosher section of my King Soopers). However, when I want something a bit different, the Curried Split Pea Soup from Vegan with a Vengeance has been my choice. This soup is almost as easy as the packaged mix (just chopping the garlic, carrots and onion and mixing the spices). I used a mix of hot curry and maharajah curry powders—but it wasn’t particularly hot, so I think that all hot curry powder would be interesting to try too. I actually only made a half recipe of this recipe, as it was Wednesday night when I made it, and I wanted to have a need for a new soup by Monday or Tuesday of next week. True to history, this was a tasty and hearty soup. It isn’t so different from ‘regular’ split pea soup, yet it has a unique flavor that sets it apart.

I also decided to get creative and make a mixture of the leftover carrot miso soup and the curried split pea. California Pizza Kitchen (which has delicious soups for a mall/chain restaurant…) serves thick complimentary soups side-by-side in the same bowl. I did the same—fully realizing that it might very well be disgusting. Lucky for me it was a winning combination (though now I only have the leftover curried split pea, so it was a short lived combination).