Crockpot Pea Soup
Especially on those cold winter days, crockpot cooking is a truly wonderful gift to yourself and your family. As adults, crockpot cooking is as close to having a mommy or a personal chef as you can get. Forget that you were the one that actually prepared the food, and focus on the fact that there is a hot meal waiting for you when you get home. This allows you to feel spoiled, pampered and definitely well loved. And feeling the love in our food should always be the underlying factor behind every morsel of sustenance that we eat.
Other than love, it is spices that create the dish. In the colder winter months it is important to include warming spices which not only make your food taste better, they also boost the immune system. Clove and nutmeg are two such spices. Clove and nutmeg increase your circulation and so they warm you from the inside out. They have antiviral properties and improve your immune system as well as your digestive system.
Many spices are also used as essential oils and have even stronger healing properties than when used as a spice. This is the case for both clove and nutmeg. Burn a bit of clove and nutmeg in a diffuser to purify the home and keep away disease. Here’s a quick beauty tip as well. One drop of clove oil, diluted in 1 tsp of honey serves as a great alternative to lip fillers. Apply the mixture to your lips for the perfect bee stung lip look.
Ingredients:
- Rice bran oil
- ½ kilo split peas, (soaked overnight)
- 4 liters boiling water
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 4 carrots, sliced into rounds
- 1 turnip, cubed
- 4 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- ¼ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp clove
- 1 cup beer (optional)
- salt and pepper
- Croutons for garnish.
Heat the oil in a frying pan, saute the onions for 2 minutes and then add to the crock pot. Discard the soaking water and add the peas to the crock pot as well. Add the remaining ingredients, other than the salt. Cook on high for a minimum of eight hours. (Every crockpot works differently, adjust the setting as needed.) Add the salt only after the peas have slightly softened.
If you prefer to cook the soup in two stages then put half of the water and all of the peas in the crock pot. Cook on high for around 4 hours. At a convenient point mid-day, saute the onion and add them, along with the remaining ingredients, to the crock pot. Continue to cook on high for at least 4 more hours.
Garnish with croutons.
Sima Herzfeld Navon is a naturopath and the founder and owner of Navon Naturals, natural skincare products. To learn more visit www.simanavon.com
Did you know that using skincare products made with essential oils will make your skin glow and enhance your natural beauty? To learn more about our products visit the online store.