Green
Split Pea and Butternut Squash Soup
2 1/2 cups green split peas
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 large yellow onion
½ large bunch of dill or 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning which they sell in bulk at the
local health food stores
8 medium carrots, sliced
Salt, about 2 tablespoons, to taste
Instructions
Combine all ingredients except the salt in a large soup pot with enough water to a little more than cover. Cover, bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 – 2 hours, until green split peas are tender and soupy. If the split peas taste even a hint of not completely tender, they probably need more time. When done, remove from heat. Add the salt – – it seems to need about 2 tablespoons but I start with a lot less and just add salt until it tastes good & serve. Yum!!!
An alternative way of doing the butternut squash so you don't have to put nearly as much work into getting the rind off it might be to cover an oblong metal baking pan with a piece of parchment paper, use a sharp paring knife to poke holes in the squash to let the steam out, and bake the whole squash at 400 degrees for about anywhere from one to two hours and then take the squash out of the oven, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and add the pulp to the soup, adding enough water to cover everything in the pot again. I have baked butternut squash before this way and it is absolutely delicious all on its own you don't even need to add anything to it although i always do (coconut oil and salt). Also you can totally eat the skin it is delicious just like a baked potato! Best to buy an organic squash to make sure the skin doesn't have anything funny on it. (?) Have never tried adding it to this soup after baking however cooked squash is cooked squash and am going to try baking it just until the squash is done enough so the pulp can be scooped or cut out easily and then add it to the soup in the last 1/2 hour of cooking -- it's really the split peas that take so long to cook anyway squash is like potatoes when you boil it it gets done pretty quickly. Do use a metal baking pan to bake it though, my experience is that glass does not hold up well at high degrees for long times especially with something that doesn't entirely fill the pan like a squash.
