When people think of split pea soup, they often think robust and hearty European fare that’s swimming with ham. Well, step out of that mindset. This split pea soup is a delicious vegan alternative with amazing Indian spices. We’ve given it an exceptional boost with crisped tempeh croutons. It can’t get any tastier—and the nutritional boost is worth making a massive batch to add to any recipe, salad, or stir-fry.
Tips
- This delicious split pea soup is equally good with stirred in spinach, kale, or Swiss chard.
- Soaking split peas overnight reduces your cooking time from almost 2 hours down to 40 minutes. Alternatively, you can substitute split peas with urad dal and further reduce your cooking time
Curried Split Pea Soup with Spicy Tempeh Croutons
Ingredients
- 2 cups (500 mL) dry yellow split peas
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) grapeseed oil
- 1 large cooking onion, chopped
- 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 small celeriac, peeled and chopped
- 2 large Russian garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) peeled and grated gingerroot
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) medium-hot curry powder
- 2 tsp (10 mL) ground cumin
- 2 tsp (10 mL) turmeric
- 1 cup (250 mL) peeled and diced yam
- 6 cups (2 L) unsalted vegetable stock or water
- 1 tsp (5 mL) sea salt
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) freshly ground black pepper
- 14 oz (398 mL) can coconut milk
- 1 lime, juice only
- Chopped cilantro, for garnish
- Chili oil, optional
- 2 Tbsp (30 mL) grapeseed oil
- 2 tsp (10 mL) medium-hot curry powder
- 1 tsp (5 mL) ground cumin
- 1/8 tsp (0.5 cm) cayenne
- 8 oz (225 g) pkg frozen plain tempeh, thawed
Nutrition
Per serving:
- calories441
- protein20g
- fat21g
- saturated fat12g
- trans fat0g
- carbohydrates48g
- sugars8g
- fibre7g
- sodium347mg
Directions
01
In large bowl, place peas and cover with 1 L water. Set aside to soak overnight. Drain and thoroughly rinse.
02
In large, heavy saucepan, heat oil. Add onion, carrots, and celeriac. Sauteu0301 over medium-high heat until soft. Do not brown. Add garlic, cinnamon stick, gingerroot, curry, cumin, and turmeric and sauteu0301 for another minute, or until garlic is fragrant. Add soaked and strained split peas, diced yam, stock, salt, and pepper. You will need enough stock to cover peas with about 2 in (5 cm) of liquid. Bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 1 hour, until peas are soft and yam is very tender.
03
While soup is cooking, prepare tempeh croutons.
04
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Line baking sheet with parchment paper. In wide flat dish, combine oil, curry powder, cumin, and cayenne. Whisk to blend. Place block of tempeh in mixture and brush all over to coat. Cut tempeh into 1/2 in (1.25 cm) dice. Spread out on prepared baking sheet and bake in oven for 15 to 20 minutes until crisp. Set aside.
05
When soup is cooked, remove cinnamon stick and discard. Using handheld immersion blender, pureu0301e soup until creamy. Alternatively, pureu0301e in high-speed blender and return to saucepan. Whisk in coconut milk and lime juice and heat through. Add more seasonings to taste, if you wish.
06
To serve, ladle into serving bowls. Top servings with several tempeh croutons. Sprinkle with cilantro, and drizzle with chili oil if you prefer a bit more heat.
Irene McGuinness is a writer, recipe developer, food stylist for numerous magazines and corporations, and alumna of the Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University
