Slow Cooker Split Pea and Ham Soup

This is a recipe I tried a few weeks or so ago, and it was great.  I figured it would be a good start off for this blog.  I found it on the Whole Foods website under their recipe section.  It's one that I actually didn't double or modify as far as amount of ingredients because it is geared towards a large slow cooker.  Since mine is huge (6 quart), it worked out perfectly.  The one trick to this recipe is to layer the ingredients in, in the order they are given, so pay attention! :)  I will put my notes and modifications in as well.

This picture is from the website.  I'll most likely use my own in the future.

Ingredients:

1 (16-oz) package dried green split peas, rinsed

1 meaty ham bone, 2 ham hocks or 2 cups diced ham 

1 cup sliced baby carrots 

1 cup chopped onion 

2 cups potatoes, peeled and diced into small pieces 

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1 bay leaf 

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 

Salt and pepper to taste 

6 cups (48 oz) chicken broth

Layer ingredients in slow cooker in the order given, adding the broth last. Do not stir ingredients. Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours or on low 8-10 hours until peas are very soft and if using ham bone or hocks, ham falls off the bone.  When soup is finished, stir to blend ingredients. 

My Modifications/Notes/Recommendations:

I went the easy route and bought a package of diced ham.  It makes life easy for me because I usually cook late at night after work.  If you have a ham bone or hocks, go for it.  I'm sure it will be just as tasty.

The original recipe called for celery, but I omitted that and replaced it with diced potatoes (about 1/2 inch size pieces).  I did not cook them beforehand.  This part can be tedious, but I happen to have a veggie chopper thing that is wonderful.  Look for a future post on my favorite kitchen gadgets :)

I use sea salt instead of regular salt, a little healthier, and better tasting in my opinion at least.  You don't need a whole lot though since the ham helps in that department.  

I followed everything else down to the wire.  The great thing with my crock pot is that it's programmable so I set things like this to cook over night and it shuts itself off (goes to warming mode) when the timer runs out.  I set this for 8 hours and went to bed.  When I got up the morning, everything was still pretty much in the layers I had made the night before.  I gave it a good stir and it was ready to go.  I found the bay leaves and tossed them out. 

The Verdict:

We LOVED it.  I will definitely be making this again very soon.  It made enough to get us both through the week, which doesn't usually happen, because I believe my husband has a tapeworm, judging by the amount of food he can put down.  I give this one an A+

Nutritional Info:

Per serving (about 14oz/393g-wt.): 260 calories (40 from fat), 4g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 30mg cholesterol, 690mg sodium, 34g total carbohydrate (13g dietary fiber, 6g sugar), 23g protein.  Provided by the Whole Foods website.

Click here to download a printable page for this recipe!