Mochi Meals
Presenting Rip Esselstyn’s Split Pea Soup recipe from page 217 of Engine 2:
Packed with nutrition, split peas offer a robust 22 percent protein content and a rich source of soluble fiber. Enjoy this hearty soup on its own or elevate it by serving it over a bed of chopped spinach, arugula, and cooked brown rice. Complement the dish with wholesome crackers or whole grain bread. For an extra touch, prepare fresh brown rice and accompany the soup with a medley of crisp, chopped vegetables like carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, or romaine lettuce. This versatile recipe is a delightful way to savor the goodness of plant-based ingredients.
Each batch serves 3 to 4.
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
- 16 ounces dried split peas, rinsed and drained
- 32 ounces vegetable stock (approximately 1 litre or box oc Campbells broth)
- 3 cups of water
- 2 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
- 4 stalks celery with leaves chopped
- 4 carrots, chopped
- 1 cup parsley chopped, instead I used 1/4th of the amount dried
- 1 teaspoon ground thyme, or 4 sprigs fresh
- 1 tablespoons white vinegar
- cracked black or ground white pepper to taste
In a soup pot, sauté the onion and bay leaves over high heat for 5 minutes until the onion browns, using water to prevent sticking. Introduce the garlic and split peas, stirring for 3 minutes until warmed. Pour in the vegetable stock, water, and Bragg’s, bringing it to a boil. Cover, and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Adjust the consistency with warm water as needed. Incorporate the celery, carrots, parsley, thyme, and vinegar. Allow the peas to cook further until reaching the desired texture. Season with either black or white pepper to taste.
Remember to add some water when sautéing vegetables without any oils. If you want to brown them more you could raise the heat and add water as necessary until you reach the colour or tenderness you desire.
Like I mentioned earlier that I used a food processor here to help chopping the vegetables. In this situation I chopped the onions first, then the carrots and then the celery in short order. That is 4 onions, around 16 carrots and 16 celery stalks including the leaves.
If you are going to cook 4 times the regular, the times will vary. Nonetheless, the times will vary depending on the stove and the cookware you use to cook. Our experience is that medium is a good temperature to bring the soup up to boil. It does take a while because it’s a lot to heat up, but when we tried to raise the heat beyond the midpoint of 5 on our stove the soup would burn. The burnt taste would permeate the whole batch and we would be stuck eating it over a long period of time until we finished it all off since we don’t consume it all at once. A little patience goes a long way here. Even though it takes some more effort, it only took me about 45 minutes to get from the start to the step where the split peas were cooking inside the pot. I then had enough time to wash up the dishes, even prepare lunch and eat it all before having to add the chopped vegetables towards the end. We prefer to have our vegetables a little more firm, and we will be reheating it so we chose to have the split peas at the consistency we liked before adding the vegetables for another 10-15 minutes. We let it cool off before transferring them to mason jars for storage. The time it takes to prepare and cook this dish is well worth the effort. The ingredients are nutritious, simple and easy to get anywhere you may do your grocery shopping. The costs is great for those looking to eat healthy on a budget as well. Additionally, this meal fits the criteria of those who are on a Whole Foods Plant Based Diet recommended my Forks Over Knives, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Dr. John Mcdougall, Dr. Goldhamer, Dr. Dean Ornish and countless others. Just remember, if you are using these mason jars, to only fill it up to where the neck at the mouth starts to narrow. When they freeze, this helps avoid the glasses from cracking. I don’t think I’ve had anything crack from that directly, but like all glass it isn’t immune to that. We’ve had maybe one or two we found from time to time that are cracked, but mostly from being dropped.
This meal is great for a family of five or more to last you a good long while. We’ve even pulled these things out for a last minute potluck or special family gathering or with friends perfectly fine. Just wondering if anyone has any tips on how to streamline food preparation and keeping costs down for larger families. This seems to work for us, but I am always open to learning new things.
