Yellow Split Pea Soup and Homesteader Cornbread

Today was a good day for cooking with my boys. I made oatmeal with apples and honey, that N said was "scrummy!" Then dinner went over well too. The boys helped me make the Homesteader cornbread, which is a recipe I found on all-recipes and is my favourite; it is so moist. Of course the boys LOVED the cornbread, but they also enjoyed the soup (and they aren't real big soup lovers). N said it was delicious, and very nice! I don't get that very often.

Yellow Split Pea Soup

2-3 cups dried yellow split peas, soaked overnight

1-2 Tbs Vegetable oil

2 onions, chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped

3-4 carrots, chopped

Large Handful Parsley leaves, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried marjoram (or to taste)

1 tsp dried thyme (or to taste)

Water or homemade stock

2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large pot or stock pan on medium heat. Sauté the onion, celery and carrot for about 10 minutes until soft. Add the parsley and garlic, sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add the thyme, marjoram and bay leaves, sauté for 1 minute.

2. Drain and rinse the split peas and add to the pot. Add enough water or stock to cover the split pea mix by about two inches. Bring to a boil, cover, and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for a couple of hours or until lentils are soft, adding more water if necessary.

3. When peas are soft, remove pot from heat, and let cool slightly. Remove bay leaves. If desired, you can use an immersion blender to blend some, but not all of the soup. You could also take a couple of cups from the pot and blend in a blender until smooth, then return to the pot and stir until thoroughly mixed. Season with salt and pepper.

Southern Black-eyed Peas with Greens

This is a simple recipe. Although probably not authentic southern, it's got black-eyed peas, greens, and molasses, so close enough. As usual, I didn't measure out the ingredients I used, so it's an estimate. I also cooked up some dried beans (with chili flakes and bay leaf), but you could use tinned. I also used savoy cabbage, but I suspect that any type of green would work well.

Southern Black-eyed Peas with Greens

1 Tbs and a small knob of butter

1 large onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 head savoy cabbage (or about 2 cups of another type of green)

3 cups cooked black-eyed peas

1 Tbs molasses, or to taste

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Heat up oil and butter in a pot or large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrot, and cook, covered for 5-10 minutes (until soft). Meanwhile chop cabbage or greens. Add garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes, and then add cabbage. Cover and cook for another 5-10 minutes, until all veggies are soft.

2. Add the peas and molasses, stirring, cook until heated through. Season to tastes.

This works well as a side dish, but also as a main over toast, rice or maybe even potatoes. I used the leftovers the next day to make open face baguette sandwiches with cheese on top. They were really tasty.