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Green split peas. Arguably the least sexy legume. It’s high time green split peas got a makeover, no?

In this video I’m inviting you into my daily process of improvising recipes with whatever’s hanging around in my pantry. I do this pretty much every day. But what with being stuck at home, my pantry supplies are quickly dwindling. Necessity being the mother of invention, moments like these are like kindling on my inspiration fire.

For today’s recipe I’m walking you through how I’ve gone about creating a spicy, latin-inspired, umami-bomb of a green pea soup. It’s a far cry from the sad mush of your typical split green pea soup. In fact, it’s (dare I say it) and hot MAKEOVER moment for the otherwise frumpy green split pea.

Think Never Been Kissed but make it LENTILS.

Find the recipe for this creation below!

Spicy Green Split Pea Soup with Lemony Cauliflower

Prep time: 5 mins - Cook time: 45 mins - Makes: 4 servings

Notes: Green split peas take 45+ mins to soften when cooked. But once everything is in the pot you can basically walk away and let this soup do it’s thing. The cauliflower requires a bit of tending, but we want that crispy blackened quality — so overall it’s an unfussy method.

Ingredients

1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup green split peas
8 cups broth
5-6 sun-dried tomatoes (dry pack, not in oil), chopped
juice 1 lemon
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp ginger, ground
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp whole cumin seed, freshly ground
1/8 tsp white pepper, ground fresh
1 tbsp cashew butter (optional, adds creaminess)
optional garnish: tortilla chips, chopped fresh herbs e.g. parsley

Method

1. Set soup pot on medium high heat. Add olive oil. Once olive oil is glistening add onion and sautee 3-5 minutes or until beginning to brown.

2. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more.

3. Add split peas, broth, sun dried tomatoes, lemon juice, paprika, ginger, cinnamon, cumin, white pepper, cashew butter. Cook 40-50 minutes on low heat -- until green split peas are tender. Avoid over-cooking if you don't want your split peas to turn into mush.

4. Cut off the heat, taste, adjust seasonings to your liking. Serve with cauliflower, crushed tortilla chips and fresh chopped herbs as garnish.

Lemony Cauliflower

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 large cauliflower (~4 cups), chopped roughly
1/4 cup white wine
juice 1/2 lemon
1 tsp garlic pepper
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
salt + pepper to taste (I used 1/8 tsp each)
hot sauce, to your liking

Method

1. Set a sautee pan over medium high heat. Add olive oil. Once olive oil is glistening add cauliflower, garlic pepper and wine and stir together.

2. Cook covered 10 mins. Remove cover and add lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper and hot sauce.

3. Stir together and cook until blackening and crisping up. When done to your liking, taste, adjust seasonings, turn off heat and serve hot.