Split Pea Soup is a
Good Source of Protein and
Easy to Cook in Your Truck

Do you enjoy a good bowl of split pea soup? Did you know that you can enjoy it right in your truck? Your options include these preparations:

You can find split green peas in the dry beans and peas section of many grocery stores. This is a photo of the display of green split peas in one of the stores in our home area. At the time this photo was taken, they were being sold for $0.73 per pound.

Preparation

While some folks may skip soaking beans or peas overnight, Vicki learned this from her mom and has always found it beneficial. (Obviously, in order to soak dry split green peas overnight, you need to plan the meal the night before.)

	Shortly before bedtime one night, Vicki took one pound of dry split green peas and measured them into the crock pot.
	Yes, there really were about 13 quarter-cup servings in the bag, as the information on the Nutrition Facts panel stated.

She added 6 cups of water to the crock (to make sure that the peas would stay submerged even after they swelled), stirred up the peas and let them sit overnight.

The Next Morning

If Vicki had been preparing split pea soup on a standard stove, she would have brought the peas in the water to a boil the next morning and then drained off the water. While we have a hot pot in which we can do the same thing in the truck that Mike drives for his trucking company, Vicki decided to see if she could accomplish the whole process in the crock pot.

The next morning, she turned the crock pot on low (with the peas and the soaking water in it) to let the peas heat up and the water foam. She didn't count how long this process took, but it was probably about 3 hours.

When we got to a stopping place, Vicki strained off the peas into another bowl with a slotted spoon and disposed of the soaking water. She put the peas back in the crock, measured in 4 cups of fresh water and 6 beef bouillon cubes for seasoning (a 1.5-to-1 ratio of bouillon cubes to the newly added water). Then, she mixed the peas up and again set the crock pot on low.

Additional Ingredients

While some people like to add other ingredients like potatoes or carrots into their batches of split pea soup, we like to add just ham. So, we have no experience in knowing how much time is required to cook the other vegetables without making them mushy.

About an hour or two before we planned to stop, Vicki took the last little bit of ham (maybe 1/3 pound) from a 3-pound chunk that we'd bought, cut it into small chunks and added it to the pot. She stirred the ingredients and let the crock pot continue to cook the soup.

Put it on Low and Let it Go

One of the beauties of using a crock pot is that it cooks on lower heat over a longer period of time. You can "put it on low and let it go." Because of the lower temperatures, some foods are pretty forgiving. This is certainly the case with our batch of split pea soup.

Every once in a while -- especially when the truck hit a bump while the soup was cooking -- we would smell a little whiff of steam come out of the crock pot. Yum! The smell certainly helped whet our appetites.

Ingredients we used:

• 1 pound (16 oz.) green split peas
• 10 cups of water (6 to soak, 4 to cook)
• 6 beef bouillon cubes
• ham (estimated to be about 1/3 pound)
• unsalted top crackers

Other Preparation Methods

As we mentioned at the top, there are other ways to prepare and warm split pea soup. In the photo to the left, you will see the soup in a bowl with an obvious "ring" above the level of the liquid on the left. This is because this particular batch was canned and warmed again in a microwave oven. We no longer use a microwave oven to warm foods, but we know that this is convenient for many drivers.

Comparing Our Soup with One Commercial Variety

We've tried commercially canned split pea soup, but the Campbells brand is too salty for us. Compare, for example, the amounts of sodium in equal portions (such as 100 grams) of these two preparations of split peas:

• Peas, split, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt and
• CAMPBELL Soup Company, CAMPBELL'S Red and White, Split Pea with Ham and Bacon Soup, condensed

Vicki chose to contrast the boiled peas "with salt" because she uses beef bouillon to season her soup.

The point is that when you make your own split pea soup (or any soup), you can season it the way you like. You may wish to experiment with the amount of bouillon-to-water in your batches. For us, we use the 1.5-to-1 ratio when preparing all of our dry beans and peas because it tastes good to us. Examples of the ratio would be 3 cubes to 2 cups of water; 6 cubes to 4 cups of water; etc.

Nutrition Information

Split peas have a high percentage of protein. According to NutritionData.com, in their raw, mature seed form, they have about 25% protein and 26% dietary fiber. If you like, you may compare and contrast all of the nutrition data for all forms of split peas for yourself.

Money saving tip: Dried beans and peas are among the best values (nutritionally and financially) for a meal, especially when eaten as a main course. Although we like to fix split peas (specifically the green ones) in split pea soup, there are lots of recipes using split peas online. We never recall seeing any truck stop restaurant serving split pea soup (although there may be other bean soups served). However, even if it were served, how much would you pay for a bowl of it there? Would you have to get their "soup and salad" menu item just to get the soup? How much would you spend in contrast to the cost of what you can fix in your truck? Consider the possibility of keeping at least a pound or two of this dried vegetable in your truck (with your crock pot and seasoning, of course), especially as a back up for times that you might get stranded in the winter and need something nourishing and filling. For home support teams, you might be able to save money by buying split peas in bulk. Watch for sales and use coupons where you can. Bouillon cubes (or granules) can also be purchased in larger quantities (at a lower per-serving cost) than those typically found in grocery stores. Remember: If you're cooking in a crock pot while you're rolling down the road, somehow brace your pot so that it won't rock or tip over. Also, brace the lid so it doesn't flop around. Enjoy your meal!