Day 21 Homemade Split Pea Soup With "Bacon"

Sunday was another all day marathon of painting. I got home late but still had enough energy to make some split pea soup and because of my inability to buy sweet snacks some cookies too.

The Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies were a little disappointing (recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance). But the Vegan Split Pea Soup I made was excellent. I knew that the familiarham/bacon flavor I would miss from making it meat free could be easily compensated by using the very Vegan Bacon Bits you can buy for salads.

I took the recipe from Allrecipies.com and added a 1 TBS of Betty Crocker Bacos to get that smoky, salty, bacon flavor the meat version has.

Vegan Split Pea Soup I

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups dried split peas
• 1/2 cup barley
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 7 1/2 cups water
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 potatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a large pot over medium high heat, saute the oil, onion, bay leaf and garlic for 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Add the peas, barley, salt and water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the carrots, celery, potatoes, parsley, basil, thyme and ground black pepper. Simmer for another hour, or until the peas and vegetables are tender.