Taking the 'pulse' of the season: we start our soup series with split pea soup

Did you miss me, ragazzi? Yes, Annalena has been absent again, with things both good and bad. Ah, the world turns doesn't it? We lose some, we gain some, and as my Buddhist friends would say the wheel of dharma turns. All things are for a reason, would that we understood them. Annalena sometimes wonders if any of us understand anything, and there are those periods where, even the kitchen does not bring comfort.

I obscure matters to protect both the innocent and the guilty, as a fitful explanation for absence. Now, to the kitchen.

It is that time of year where most of us, if not all of us, feel the yearning for: soup. When it is THAT cold, or maybe not THAT cold, but that KIND of a cold... you know what I mean, where you just can't get warm enough, soup is perhaps the only thing that will do. And indeed, Annalena has been making a lot of soup lately, and this entry will be the first of three, recounting different soups. All are easy, and we will be moving from the easiest of the three, and the most economical, to the most complex and most expensive. Nonetheless, none are difficult.

Split pea soup: you've had it before, and maybe you liked it. There are people who have wonderful memories of it. Most, however, speak of thick, foul tasting, green "stuff" that made them swear off of it for years.

Annalena did not have split pea soup when she grew up. It was simply not in Nana's repertoire, and perhaps was lucky that, the very first split pea soup she ever had, was from a wonderful vegetarian cookbook, long out of print, that was considered the "Joy of Cooking" of vegetarian cooking. She believes it was by a husband and wife pair, who went by the last name of Goldbeck. Does that ring a bell to any of you? If so, please enlighten Annalena, as her feeble mind no longer remembers the names to give complete credit to them.

Well, I have been having a yearning for this soup for quite some time. Perhaps at least a year. Finally, the stars were in alignment, and I made it. It is how I remember the recipe, but there is no doubt that I have made changes. Notwithstanding this, you cannot get much more basic than this soup. Nor can you find a recipe that is much less work. So let's do it. Let's make some soup, and let's get warm.

This is going to make a lot. Perhaps close to 3 quarts. You have been warned. So get set to share.

Chop up two large onions, two or three carrots, and two or three ribs of celery. I cut mine into large chunks and used the food processor, but when I first made it, I remember chopping by hand. Either will do.

In the original, I did not saute' the vegetables in oil, but I like it this way. Leave the oil out if you like. Get a couple tablespoons vegetable oil hot, and toss in those chopped vegetables, with a couple of bay leaves. If you want, you can also add some garlic. For once, I did not add it. Anyway, saute them for a few minutes, until the onion loses its transparency, and then add two quarts of water, and a pound of yellow split peas. Also add AT LEAST a full tablespoon of salt. You will probably want to add more, but start here.

After you've done this, lower the heat to low/medium, put a cover on the pot, leave it slightly ajar, and go away for half an hour. Come back and stir, and taste the liquid. This is when you add more salt if you like. Then go away again, and come back in half an hour.

You will have been cooking this soup for about an hour and the peas will have begun to fall apart, but will not be mush. If you stir the soup, the peas will break down further, and this is something you should do, because you can very much get the texture you want, simply by stirring.

The longer you cook this soup, the thicker it will get. I stop after about an hour, and a few minutes of stirring.

Now, go back through that recipe: carrots, celery, onions, bay leaves, split peas, water, salt. Can you get more elemental? And what work did you do besides slicing and stirring? And what did you get? A LOT of lovely vegan soup that will stick to your ribs, nourish you, warm you, and get you friends when you share it.

If you are so inclined, add some cooked sausage, or the traditional franks. Or, go in another direction and make it "Indian" by adding yogurt , curried spices, or anything along those lines. (What you will find, with many of the soups Annalena provides to you, is that you can turn them into full meal type dishes by adding a protein at the end).

Annalena wants to dedicate this recipe to her bud Johnny D, whom she misses. He'll get this, and probably make it. You'd best do so Johnny D. I will be checking in on you...