You may or may not have noticed that it’s Halloween week. AKA THE MOST STRESSFUL WEEK OF MY YEAR. I joke, kind of, but also … I’m kind of serious. I have serious Halloween anxiety! I never know what to be! I spend WAY too much time thinking about what I’ll be, and never feel 100% (or even 80%) confident in any of them. This leads me to want to hide at home and never participate and just avoid the ENTIRE “HOLIDAY” altogether. Anyone else? Just me? Oh man.
Unfortunately, I can never convince the other people in my life to join my in my hermit-halloween-hideaway celebration. They’re all like “but we can go to this party” or “you HAVE to come to MY party!” or “we can’t be lame” or WHATEVER. Ugh. Obviously, it works on me. I have yet to fully skip a halloween, but I’m ALWAYS KICKING AND SCREAMING. This year, so far, has been no different. I’ve already agreed to show up to at least one party, and the manfriend is pretty gung-ho about the whole costume thing (which is great!), but: we haven’t thought of a good one! I NEED HELP!
Seriously, I can’t think of any good ones, so I need you guys to give me the BEST ideas you have. They can be couples costumes or single costumes. Whatever. I’m desperate at this point! I do have some stipulations: it can’t be lame. It has to be cheap to create. It must be bike-friendly. It can be semi-obscure, but I think the best costumes are those that people pretty quickly figure out and think are hilarious. OK GO!
In exchange for helping me with the biggest issue of the week (oh man. if only that were true!), I’ll give you the recipe for this hot-diggity-dog bomb.com soup. That’s an official rating system I just came up with. I had no clue what to name this, as usual, because it has ten million delicious things in it: smoked paprika, split peas, potatoes, bay leaves, carrots, onion, garlic, chard, oregano, AND MORE. It started because Cindy mentioned how amazing Megan’s lemon lentil soup was, so I was like “oh, I’ll make it!” until I realized I actually had split peas, not lentils, and no lemons, but enough other things to “make” the recipe… a totally different recipe. So, inspired by Megan, completely hacked by me.
This soup was perfect half-blended: I stuck my immersion blender in there and gave it a few whirls — enough to leave some chunks, but enough to make it a bit creamy. PERFECTION! (Chandler Bing, anyone? Anyone? Oy. It’s Monday.)
Have a wonderful week! And GIVE ME HALLOWEEN IDEAS PUHLEAZE!
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Smokey Potato Split Pea Soup
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup diced onions
- 2 Tbsp crushed garlic
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 ½ cups carrots, chopped to ¼" thick
- 2 cups diced potato
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup dry split peas
- 5-6 cups vegetable stock
- ¼ cup chopped fresh oregano
- 2-4 cups chopped greens (I used chard)
- salt and pepper to taste
- parmesan & bread for serving
Instructions
- Place a large soup pot over medium heat. When hot, add the olive oil, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute before adding the smoked paprika and cumin.
- Cook for another minute before adding the carrots, potato, bay leaves, and split peas.
- Continue to cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes, until the potatoes begin to sweat.
- Add the veggie stock, enough to more than cover everything in the pot, and bring to a simmer. Let it cook for about 30 minutes, or until the split peas are soft.
- Add the fresh oregano, greens, and salt & pepper to taste.
- Blend as little or as much as you want, adding more liquid if needed to reach your desired consistency.
- Serve topped with fresh parmesan on top, and bread on the side.
Merrill says
Remember the time you painted your entire body blue? I think I know where your anxieties come from.
LOVE! 🙂
Mary says
Hahahaha I was literally telling someone yesterday about that TERRIBLE LIFE DECISION! ? miss you!!
Holly Calentine says
Leela from Futurama is pretty easy and recognizable.. just need a putple ponytail and boots. Oh, and one eye.
Mary says
Thanks, Holly!! Xo
Hayley Cashdollar says
I made this...YUM! Thanks. 🙂
Mary says
Yay! Thanks, Hayley! xoxo
jaime | the briny says
hi there! i just found your blog through twitter and can't believe i hadn't come across you before -- i love what you've got going on here. the flavors in this soup are so warming, comforting, wholesome -- and still, sultry enough to be totally enticing. beautiful!
Mary says
Hi Jaime! Welcome to the TKP family — glad to have you here!! xoxo
Natalie says
Oh my sweet goodness. This soup was absolutely heavenly! I made it this weekend and while it was cooking, I could already tell that this would be one of my go-to soups from now on. Ever since beginning a vegetarian lifestyle a few years back, I've struggled to find soup recipes that were delicious for my tastebuds—I struggle sometimes with veggie broth, especially if there are tomatoes in the soup. But this might just be the best soup I've ever made. The rich flavors of the cumin and smoked paprika mingled with the heartiness of the potatoes and carrots is simply a triumph! I subbed split lentils for split peas and kale for chard, as these were the ingredients I had on hand. I think next time, I'll throw some sweet potato in for a little extra something! Thank you for a recipe that is simply rocking my world at the moment. I just stumbled across your site and I can't wait to browse around and see what other delights you've cooked up! Cheers!
Mary says
Thanks for the great comment, Natalie! I'm so glad you liked the soup! xoxo
Sarah says
Threw in a chipotle pepper for a little more smokey flavor. It was delicious!! Thank you for this!