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The poor kids — I’m on a soup kick lately. Well, a soup/stew/chili kick, anyway. Our fall here is so brief that I take advantage of it any way I can, and that includes dinners that take hours to cook and fill up the house with yummy smells. Thankfully, everyone humors me because they know that it also means a lot of baking, too — bread, cookies, you name it.

Anyway, Mike asked me a couple of weeks ago if I’d find a split pea soup recipe, and here it is. We had it last night with a nice homemade loaf of bread (and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies for dessert. See how that works out?).

Peas don’t need to soak like beans do, so after you’ve sorted and rinsed them they can go directly into the crock pot. Also, make sure you add everything into the crock pot in the order given, and don’t mix it up when you’re done. It’s important that the peas stay submerged for as long as possible to soften up.

Once it’s done I transfer about 3/4 of it (minus the ham, if I can help it) into a blender to puree, and then add back into the crockpot for another half hour or so. You don’t need to do this but we like it on the creamier side. An immersion blender would work perfectly for this, but I can’t find mine.

You can also make it vegetarian by omitting the ham and using vegetable stock. If you don’t add ham, up the broth to four cups and use only 1 cup of water.

Split Pea Soup

1 lb dry split peas, rinsed and sorted
1-1/2 cups cooked ham, cubed (or 1 ham hock)
1 cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups water

After cooking:
salt to taste
1 cup heavy cream

Layer ingredients into the crock pot in the order given above. Do not mix. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.
About half an hour before you’re ready to eat, add the salt as needed and heavy cream.

Forgive the picture, this one doesn’t photograph very well!

One of Mike’s favorite restaurant foods when he lived in South Dakota was Chicken Tortilla Soup from Ground Round. I got to have it one time when we flew out to see his family, and it was really good. We don’t have Ground Rounds out here so it’s been at least 12 years since we last had it.

Anyway, he mentioned a couple of weeks ago that he was craving it, so I went online and found a “copycat” recipe for it. I adapted it for the crockpot and surprised him with it, and it was a huge hit. Even the kids, who aren’t that crazy about soup, loved it!

Chicken Cheese Tortilla Soup

1 pound cubed chicken breast
2 cans Campbell’s “Fiesta Nacho Cheese” condensed soup
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
2 cups milk
2 cans (about 14 oz each) mild enchilada sauce
Crushed tortilla chips
Shredded cheddar cheese

Gently boil the chicken breast until cooked through and shred or cube. Combine all ingredients except the tortilla chips and cheddar cheese and place in crockpot.

Let cook on low for about four hours, stirring occasionally as it will burn easily. Crush tortilla chips and place in bowl, ladle soup over top. Sprinkle top with shredded cheddar cheese.