What I Had for Lunch Today: Green Split Pea soup and Salad

My cousin tells me she doesn't make too many soups because her kitchen is so rudimentary. She doesn't have a good stove, and avoids foods that have to cook for a long time. So she was amazed when I cranked out this meal as we chatted. She was starting to tell me she didn't have time to wait for it, but in fact, it was done.

You can simmer a soup for hours on the back of the stove if you like, but you can also just make it fast and leave it a day for the flavors to blend. And even if you don't (we didn't wait for this particular batch!), it will still be pretty good.

To make this, I sautéed an onion, a couple of carrots, and a couple of stalks of celery, sliced, in good olive oil until soft. Then I added half a pound of green split peas, water to cover, salt, pepper, parsley, sage, and a few drops of liquid mesquite smoke. I simmered it until the peas were cooked, stirring occasionally and adding water as necessary. I garnished the soup with a drizzle of organic pumpkin oil. With it I served a chef's salad, the recipe for which I've blogged before.

Donna showed up as we were sitting down to eat, with some fried chicken she had brought from outside. That's Taz in the edge of the photo, making off with a piece of it.