Vegan Pea Soup

I was never a fan of Pea Soup until I was a nanny for a family with 2 small children, the father being overseas for a couple of months at the beginning of my stint w/them.  The mom ("M") is a vegetarian and an amazing cook!  I seriously went from being unemployed and eating as entertainment (Lord, how much weight did I gain during that time???) to running after 2 lovely kiddos every day and eating mostly vegetarian (When I first realized that I could lose weight).  She introduced me to this soup (as well as a very similar soup w/lentils, but I'm not such a fan of those!) and now I'm a big fan.  This soup is great because it requires little fuss from beginning to end, it is a great way to get your veggies in, and it is pretty cheap to make.  It is my staple lunch/dinner for when I have $10 in my bank account an it's a week from payday. 

I don't usually post recipes on my blog because:
1. I don't really cook that much.
2. When I cook, I rarely follow a recipe to the "T".

But let's give it a whirl!

Vegan Pea Soup

You need:
1-2 Quarts of Vegetable Stock*
2-4 Quarts of Water*
32 Ounces of Dried Peas
2 Large Carrots
1 Large Onion
1 Bunch Fresh Dill
Salt and Pepper to Taste


I start by warming up my vegetable stock on low heat in a large pot while I rinse and sort the dried peas....there are some funky looking ones!  Once I have rinsed and sorted the peas, they go in with the vegetable stock.  I then add water to the pot to make sure all the peas are covered in liquid.  I diced up the carrots and onion and added them to the pot.  After a big stir, I put the lid on, set the heat a smidge above low.  Then I went about my business cleaning my pilates/yoga mat, doing my laundry, trying (and failing) at some Pinterest crafts, etc.  Because it is on low, it only needed a stir every 15 minutes or so and is not very likely to stick to the bottom.  I added more water as needed because I like my soups at a mushy, not runny consistency.  When the peas start to become a mush instead of individual peas, I put the dill in.  I'm not sure how you are actually supposed to get dill off of the stem, but I just used kitchen scissors and snipped away over the pot of soup.  From start to finish it was about 2 hours until it was done (aka all the individual peas were mush).  Salt and pepper can be added at this time too.  I felt so accomplished that I cooked, cleaned, and did laundry!

*Don't quote me on this.  I think the peas say to use a 1 oz peas/8 oz water ratio.  You can mix vegetable stock/water or all of one or the other, your preference!

Reason #3:  I apparently am not good at writing recipes! haha It was my best shot though!

I think this is what I paid for these items:

1-2 Quarts of Organic Vegetable Stock (I found 1 quart on clearance for $1.29)
2-4 Quarts of Water (Free!)
32 Ounces of Dried Peas (2 16oz bags for $2.74)
2 Large Carrots ($.50?)
1 Large Onion ($.50?)
1 Bunch Fresh Dill ($1.99...splurge!  I love dill and I don't care who knows!)
Salt and Pepper to Taste (Free?  Such a minuscule amount!)

Total:  $7.50 including tax. 
Servings: 8-10 depending on how much you want.

I think it is great because it is so filling and delicious and cheap.  I usually use a 16oz coffee mug for lunch, as I'm sure you can tell. :)

*Disclaimer:  Eating this for every meal might make your pee neon green for a while due to the excess of whatever vitamin that peas have a lot of.  True story.  It happened to me this summer.  You have been warned :)