Sprouted Pea Soup

Instead of an ordinary split pea soup try sprouting your peas to make a savory, healthy, vegetarian alternative.  

Peas are very easy to sprout.  You can follow the same instructions for sprouting mung beans.   After the dried peas soak for a day, they will become live food - doubling in both size and nutrition. They will look like regular peas from the garden, but they will need to be cooked to become soft.

Sprouted Peas

Cup of Sprouted Pea Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup of spouted peas (1/2 cup of whole split peas)

2.5 cups of water

1 medium sized potato

1 small piece Parmesan cheese rind

6-10 shiitake mushrooms

1 small onion

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons dill

1 teaspoon cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  In a pressure cooker, add the sprouted peas, potato, add the Parmesan rind. 
2.  Cook on high heat until the cooker whistles, then cook on low heat for 10 minutes. 

3.  After you turn off the heat on pressure cooker, set aside and let sit for 15 minutes.
4.  Saute the onions, garlic, mushrooms, dill, and cumin until lightly browned.  

5.  Combine the sauteed ingredients together with the ingredients in the pressure cooker, then puree with a hand blender.

6.  Add salt and pepper to taste then serve.

Note:   You can use a large pot instead of a pressure, but cooking time will increase to 2 hours. 

Sweet Potato Soup with Ginger and Peanuts

Ginger's sharp spicy flavor turns the heat up on a fall recipe.

Here is a simple soup that combines ginger with peanuts for unique and satisfying flavor.  This recipe is based on a peanut African soup recipe I once found surfing the internet.

Ingredients:

3 sweet potatoes

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

3 cups of water or broth

1 cup tomatoes, chopped

3 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoons of cumin powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

2 teaspoons coriander powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic

3 tablespoons chunky peanut butter

1/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped

Directions:

1.  Peel and slice sweet potatoes, then place in a large pot of boiling water or broth until sweet potatoes are soft. 

2.  Add coconut milk, chopped tomato, and peanut butter and simmer.

3.  In a skillet, saute in oil the chopped onion, coriander, cumin, ginger, garlic, salt and chili powder on medium heat for around 10 minutes.  Stir

4.  Add the skillet mixture to the soup pot and simmer for 45 minutes.

5.  Puree ingredients with blender or hand blender. 

6.  Garnish with chopped roasted peanuts.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Indian Spices

This healthy butternut squash soup is easy to make and tastes great with a mixture of Indian spices.   It's a fall soup -- from its pumpkin color to its crisp coriander smell.

Ingredients:
 

Flesh of 1 baked butternut squash

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup coconut milk

2 tablespoons finely grated ginger

1 chopped red bell pepper

1 large finely-chopped onion

2 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground coriander seed

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground hot pepper

Directions:

 - Bake butternut squash until soft.

 - Clean out the seeds and then scoop out the flesh and place into pot.

 - Add water, coconut milk, and grated ginger to the pot, then bring to boil.

 - In a skillet, saute red bell pepper, onion and garlic.

 - Add ground cumin, ground coriander, cinnamon, hot pepper and salt.

 - Simmer on low heat for one hour.
 - Puree then serve.

Butternut Squash Soup with Chutney