Split Pea Noodle Soup

 

This soup is a hearty stand-in for chicken noodle soup. Using the same spices and veggies as you would find in chicken noodle soup, this split pea noodle soup is comforting, warming, and familiar. The red lentils cook down into the broth, which gives the soup a meaty flavor and a boost of protein. The combination might sound strange, but it works!

Split Pea Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1/2 cup split peas
1/4 cup red lentils

4 cups of water

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp red bell pepper, minced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

3 stalks of celery, diced

1 tsp dried sage

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp nutritional yeast (optional but adds a nice richness to the soup)

2 bay leaves

4 cups water

1 tbsp vegetable bouillon (I highly recommend Better Than Bouillion)

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 cups elbow macaroni 

Fresh parsley (optional, but nice to add at the end). 

Directions:

Boil the split peas and lentils in the 4 cups of water over medium-low heat. These take about 45 minutes to soften up so plan to have them cook alongside the soup until they are ready to be added to the soup towards the end. Stir them occasionally and add more water to cover if too much has evaporated during the cooking process.

Heat the oil over medium heat in the bottom of a large stockpot, and add the onion. Stir and cook the onion until it begins to soften, which takes around 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and minced pepper and cook for a minute or two more. After that, you want to add the carrot and celery and cook for another 5 minutes to let those begin to soften as well.

Once the veggies have softened, you want to add the seasonings which are sage, thyme, parsley, oregano, pepper, nutritional yeast, and bay leaves. Give it a stir to coat the veggies in the seasoning before adding 4 cups of water. Let this cook for around 20 minutes or so (check the carrots and celery to see if they are done to your liking). Then add the vegetable bouillon, salt, and 2 cups of macaroni pasta. Cook until the pasta is al dente and then pour in the split pea and lentil mixture. 

Serve topped with fresh minced parsley and enjoy!