Lebanese Split-Pea Soup

It's finally soup weather!  Barely, but I'm counting anything under 75ºF a win.  We've only had a couple of days below 70º.  I'm assuming it's the warmth of El Niño.  Guess it's saving me in heating bills.

I'm mostly following the recipe from yup...it'svegan!  I didn't have it in me to make veggie broth and grabbed a quart of chicken broth out of the pantry.  There are a few other minor changes that adhere to the spirit and flavor profile of the recipe.  It did sound great without any changes.

This annoyingly uses more than one pot, but I get it.  Par-cooking the peas and potatoes allows you to remove some of the excess starch.  I also did this part as a do-ahead.  Ran out of time before work to make the entire recipe.  Put the peas and potatoes in the fridge, then assembled everything after.

Replacing bay leaf with celery is the best thing that could happen to this soup.  Any muddiness that can happen in an American split pea soup is erased.

1 C dry green split peas
1 lb Yukon potatoes
1 Tb olive oil
1 C chopped onion
*4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
1 quart unsalted vegetable or chicken broth
*2 stalks celery (or 1/2 C parsley), finely chopped
*Celery salt to taste
Juice of one lemon (about 2 Tb)
*Za'atar for garnish, optional

1.  Sort and rinse peas.  I found a huge chunk of something, maybe a black rock, the size of a pinto.  Always check your dried beans.  Cover with water by one inch, bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer.  Cook for 15 minutes, then drain.

2.  Peel potatoes, if desired.  I don't unless it's a food safety issue.  In this case, it didn't affect the texture.  Chop into chunks for even cooking.  Add to a different pot with a generous amount of celery salt.  Bring that one to a boil as well, then simmer the potatoes until they start to soften a little, about 10 minutes.  Drain those as well.  This is where I refrigerated everything until I got home.

3.  Into a soup pot, add the olive oil.  Heat until warm, then add onion and garlic.  Once they start to soften, add the cumin and pepper.  Cook for about 5 minutes.

4.  Add the broth, par-cooked peas and potatoes, and celery or parsley.  Bring to a simmer and cook until the peas and potatoes are completely cooked, about half an hour.

5.  Either with an immersion blender or in a regular blender in batches, purée the soup.  I got lucky this time and there weren't any disasters.  I may ask for an immersion blender for Chanukah.  Return to the stove and bring back up to a serving temperature.  Taste and add salt as needed.  Stir in lemon juice before serving.  Garnish with a generous shake of za'atar.

Difficulty rating  :)