This soup is almost instantaneous, because early in the day I soak three quarters of a cup of a mixture of split peas and lentils in three cups of boiling water within my trusty Nissan Thermos vacuum bottle for a few hours. The mixture of the two legumes brings out the best flavor of each, and enriches the overall taste.
At lunchtime, I sauté some onions, carrots, and celery and add the drained peas and lentils, along with some diced ham. I drain them because I almost always have a supply of homemade bone broth, but if you don’t, then you can use the water that they cooked in for extra flavor, or use canned broth mixed with the soaking water. Bring to a boil to make sure everything is the same temperature, et voilá, all done! A squeeze of lemon or lime is nice, or some grated Parmesan, Asiago, or any hard cheese sprinkled on the top makes a nice addition.
I had made some lightly curried rice in the rice cooker, so lunch happened pretty quickly yesterday. And even faster today, since there is plenty left to reheat! ;->
Adventures of Dorrie Anne 
The food looks yummy, but I really like the bowl!
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The bowl is really heavy and holds the heat for a long time. I like the shapes on it, and how the colors frequently complement the food.
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I was thinking of you yesterday when I was at Whole Foods. They had a massive sale on the bin items – beans, lentils, quinoa, couscous, split peas etc! There are more and more people turning to a healthier diet and lifestyle. This post reminds me that great meals are easy and quick – they are the real “fast food”
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Yup, yup – much faster than driving somewhere to pay too much for inferior, and maybe dangerous, food. It just takes a bit of pre-planning – and ACTION! ;-> I’m hearing so many folks talk about “food poisoning”!
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Love that word – action!! We can take charge of our health. And that makes all of the difference….
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It takes some willpower in the beginning, but the rewards are great!
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So . . . what did you get?
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Quinoa, Flava beans, Couscous, Pinto Beans, Navy Beans, and currants! We had so much fun. We always walk to get our groceries – we found that our backpacks were filled.
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Fava beans? Like in “Silence of the Lambs”? Eeeek!
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I couldn’t even watch that movie!!! 🙂
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Me, neither! Just heard the line from friends!
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Sounds good, looks good, and seems to be easy. I have lentils and split peas that I figured I’d never use, so I may try it.
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Give it a whirl! Easy and delicious.
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That looks both comforting and healthy. Double bonus!
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And it makes about five or six servings (we’re not big eaters, though) from three quarters of a cup!
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Bring on the yummy soup! I could so use a bowl right now.
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Got breadsticks?
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😉
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Nice idea with the addition of the colorful rice on top! 🙂
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Actually I cheated with the rice. It was on the bottom, but for photographing it . . . well, it had to be on the top! So I just added a bit more for the picture.
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It worked! 🙂
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Hallo, es sind so schöne Gerichte in deinem Blog, aber leider finde ich sie nicht in Kategorien sortiert, Aber ich schau gern wieder hier rein, Danke
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Thank you for looking at my blog. My husband has a little bit of German, and we are having fun looking at your beautiful pictures and trying to read the text. Our compliments on your wonderful pictures and on your choices of foods. It all looks very healthy. We particularly love beets, so your use of them is particularly appreciated. I have three of them in the refrigerator at the moment, having eaten the greens as a separate vegetable last night. I hope you will return. We will certainly be looking at your blog every day from here on. It is really lovely. ;->
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