No Ham Bone

At Christmas time, my dad always received a honey baked ham from someone he did work with.  When the ham was gone, my mom would sometimes make split pea soup with the ham bone.  Over the years, I've tried unsuccessfully to make split pea soup and the reason it wasn't flavorful was simple:  no ham bone.

Well, I tried it again today (still no ham bone) and it turned out decent.  I think the amount of diced ham really helped.  It looked like a lot going into the crockpot, but the proportions were good in the final product.  I also think slow cooking yielded better results than making it on the stovetop.  I'd like to add another spice (just salt, pepper and bay leaf in this version) the next time I try it but I was undecided this morning about what that should be.  Celery seed?  Thyme?  Paprika?

One bonus about this recipe - super cheap to make for the yield.  I have no tips about vegetarian split pea soup because I haven't had any luck trying that in the past.

Look for more soup recipes coming your way - one of my favorite things to make during the fall and winter.

Split Pea Soup (makes about 8 cups)

16 oz bag dried split peas
2 cups diced ham (I used a little thicker cut of ham - not the thin deli sliced)
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped carrot
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
5 cups boiling water

Layer the ingredients in your slow cooker in the order listed (peas on the bottom, pour the boiling water over the top) and cook.  The original recipe (don't know where it's from) said 4-6 hours on high.  I did high for 3 hours, low for 2 hours, let it cool and reheated it at dinner time.  You basically want the vegetables to be soft, the soup to be thick, and nothing to burn to the bottom of your slow cooker.