Parker's Split Pea Soup

I've made this twice now, once with homemade, salt free chicken stock and once with roasted vegetable stock Both versions were delicious. I love the oregano and the sweetness of the carrots. I also think the potatoes add a nice richness--though I did peel mine, as I find that potato peels in soup make for a muddy sort of effect. I liked cooking the peas in two stages--the texture was excellent. This freezes beautifully and just needs a touch of liquid (water with a spot of wine) to achieve a good thickness when reheating the soup.

This is an excellent vegetarian split pea soup, when made with a non meat, vegetarian soup base instead of the chicken stock. I usually make only half of the recipe and use a one pound bag of split peas( instead of 2) and halve all the other ingredients as well. I am a sloppy cook so I don't saute the vegetables separately but add the onions, garlic etc to the pot after the peas have cooked a while. I find the seasoning of this soup to be very good-the black pepper, coarse salt and oregano plus the vegetables, all add a great flavor. For the non meat soup base I use OSEM Chicken Soup Base ,but I am sure there are others to choose from ,too. I usually use 2 level Tablespoons of this soup base ( for half the recipe!) added to the water instead of the real chicken broth or just plain water. If you are watching your salt intake, You can add less salt- especially if you use a salty soup base, like Osem. I highly recommend this soup!