Thursday, October 09, 2008

Pea Green Soup

Tuesday I made split pea soup for dinner. Another recipe from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. It was shockingly easy. I had to do some prep work, chopping celery and carrots and sorting the split peas. (I despise chopping onions and always use the dried minced onion you can get in the spice rack at the grocery store for everyday meals.) Still, the prep work seemed fairly easy and once I put most of the ingredients together in the stock pot, I had time to clean up the kitchen and make biscuits. It was just as good as the stir-fry I threw together on Sunday night.
What was the secret to making a good dinner with minimal effort?
1. I know enough about cooking to make reasonable substitutions and shortcuts. Fresh veggies may be best, but the Thai frozen vegetables worked well in the tofu stir-fry. Amy’s California veggie burgers made a decent substitute for vegan bacon in the Split Pea Soup. And, of course, I always use my dried minced onions.
2. Cooking does require some time and effort in the kitchen. I might as well resign myself that I can’t cook the way I knit and crochet, which is whenever the mood hits me. We all get hungry a lot more often that I feel like cooking, so I might as well get my behind in the kitchen and have fun with it.
Last night I served the leftover split pea soup with beer bread, which I made with quadruple the baking soda because I was chatting on the phone while cooking. It turned out well enough anyway. No one complained much or gagged, so I’d say it was a success.

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