Artichoke and Shiitake Mushroom Split Pea Soup http://ift.tt/1yQAL4W

The following post was written by Rebecca Pytell, who blogs at Strength and Sunshine and is part of POPSUGAR Select Fitness.

Normally when you hear split peas you think of a blended soup as well, but I don't have the appliances to do any mass blending. Plus, blended soups never really sound appealing to me. But the more I see root veggie and squash soups on Pinterest and in the blog world, they have looked more and more delicious. (Hopefully if I get that blender I want for Christmas, I might try my hand at one…). Anyway, this soup is just a light Asian-inspired veggie and split pea soup.

It is super healthy and has a lovely flavor I attribute to the artichokes and shiitakes. The shiitakes scared me at first when I was chopping them up since I had no idea how they would actually taste and come out once they were re-hydrated again. They also had this unique smell. It wasn't bad, it was interesting; I kind of liked it. But best of all, the soup came out perfect! This is a great first time dried-mushroom-user recipe. So give it a try and let me know your thoughts!

Artichoke And Shiitake Mushroom Split Pea Soup

Ingredients: (serves 6-8)

1 Cup Dried Green Split Pea Beans, soaked overnight (12 hours) in 2 cups of water

2 Cups Chopped Celery

2 Cups Sliced Carrots

1 1/2 Cups Chopped Cauliflower

50g Dried Shiitake Mushrooms (roughly chopped)

9oz (255g) Frozen Artichoke Hearts

11 Cups Water

1 Tsp Garlic Powder

1 1/2 Tsp Onion Powder

1/2 Tsp Black Pepper

1 TB Parsley

1/2 Tsp Ginger

1/2 Tsp Ground Mustard Seed

1/2 TB Brown Rice Vinegar

Directions:

1. Rinse your soaked split peas off in cold water (mine began to sprout a bit, which was an extra benefit, so feel free to soak them a bit longer than 12 hours) and add them right to a large soup pot with 11 cups of water.

2. Once you have all your veggies chopped, add them to the pot as well, along with all the other ingredients. Bring everything to a boil (have the pot covered) and then cook on medium-low heat for about 35 minutes.

That's it! Really simple and makes the kitchen smell delicious! Serve along with your favorite warm grain or some Buckwheat Pumpkin Cornbread! I ended up baking this bread the day I made the soup. So even though you might not normally pair Asian with Pumpkin Cornbread…it worked perfectly.

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