Homemade Green Split Pea Soup Recipe

In a quest to find heart healthy recipes, split peas have come up in my research as a healthy green vegetable that is crammed with essential nutrients. Split peas are dried peas that have been simply split in half. As an added benefit, split peas are very cost efficient, usually under $0.50 per bag. In my German family, it has been tradition to boil bacon, sausage and even a ham bone to flavor the split pea soup. As a substitute I have chosen to add some Asian inspiration to this familiar soup to create a heart-healthy meal.

Ingredients:
2 cups dried green split peas
1.5 cups onions, diced
1.5 cups carrots, diced
1.5 cups celery diced
1 bulb roasted garlic, minced
2 tsp Turmeric, ground
2 tsp Cardamom, ground
2 tsp Garam Masala
2 tbsp coriander, ground
½ tbsp ginger, ground
1 tbsp cumin, ground
2 tbsp curry powder (optional for extra strength)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Ground pepper
7 cups water

Trying to keep with a simple style of recipe that anyone can make, I have chosen to make this recipe in the slow cooker. My slow cooker is around 6 ½ quarts in size and has a pre-programmable timer that makes it easier to control the temperature and duration of cooking time. Any slow cooker will work though; just make sure that it is large enough to hold the entire amount of soup contents. Keeping with the simplicity, I like to prepare the entire soup and store it in the refrigerator the night before and simply bring it out in the morning and press start.