Split Pea Soup

Split pea soup is easy to make, and it freezes well.  Each one-cup serving, which costs $0.80, contains 11 g of protein and 14% of your daily iron requirement.

Ingredients (makes 5 cups)

• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 4 stalks celery (chopped)
• 1 onion (diced)
• 4 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 3 carrots (chopped)
• 1 cup split peas, rinsed
• 4 cups water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried marjoram
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)
• 3 TBSP nutritional yeast flakes (optional)

Instructions

In the olive oil, saute the celery, onion and garlic over medium-high heat. 

Next, add everything except for the nutritional yeast, and bring the water to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer the soup for approximately one hour and 15 minutes (or until the peas are very soft).  It can take quite a while for the peas to cook, so add more water if necessary as the soup cooks. 

Finally, remove the bay leaf, add the nutritional yeast, and puree the soup if you choose to.  Add more salt if necessary.

cost per batch and per serving
olive oil:  $0.19
celery:  $0.85
onion:  $0.75
garlic:  $0.18
carrots:  $0.43
peas:  $0.78
bay leaf:  $0.15
thyme:  $0.08
marjoram:  $0.17
garlic powder:  $0.04
salt:  less than 1 cent
pepper:  $0.03
nutritional yeast:  $0.35
total cost per batch:  $4.00
total cost per serving:  $0.80

per serving (1 cup)
calories:  204
protein:  11 g
carbohydrates:  32.5 g
fat:  3.7 g
iron: 14.2% of rda