“We worked on that recipe for six weeks,” says Joey Gianuzzi of The Green Gourmet’s vegan split pea soup. “We’d make a batch every day, taste it, and rework it.  Finding something to replace the pork was key. In the end, we settled on mint, and it really worked.”

Ingredients:

1 large organic onion, diced
2 organic carrots, peeled and diced
2 ribs of organic celery, diced
16 oz. organic split peas
48 oz. organic vegetable stock (can be purchased)
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
2 tsp. ground coriander seeds
2 sprigs fresh organic mint
1/3 cup fresh organic basil leaves, packed
1/3 cup fresh organic parsley leaves, packed
1 cup frozen organic peas
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

In one large stock pot, combine the onion, carrots, celery, split peas, vegetable stock, red bell peppers, and coriander. Cook until the peas are tender (about 40 minutes) over medium heat. Add the mint, basil, parsley, frozen peas, and salt and pepper, to taste. Blend the mixture, using an immersion blender (or in smaller batches in a kitchen blender) until the mixture is pureed. Just before serving, reheat the soup over medium-low heat for 15 minutes and adjust seasonings. For leftovers, thin with a small amount of vegetable stock as needed. Garnish with a few whole cooked peas.

Serves six to eight