Yellow Split Pea Soup with Smokey Tempeh Bacon

1 Cup of Yellow Split Peas, washed and picked over (it could be green peas, red lentils… just a legume that will get mushy when cooked and then blended)

1 tbs olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 inch ginger root, grated

4 cups veggie or vegan chicken broth

1/2 bunch swiss chard, washed; leaves removed, sliced and set aside; stems chopped

1 tsp garam massala

salt to taste (you may not need it!)

1-2 cups water, as needed

Smokey tempeh bacon (see note at bottom), parsley, scallions to garnish

1. Heat olive oil in a pan. Add onions, saute a few minutes, then add carrots, continue to saute, and last, add ginger and garlic. Saute until all are soft.

2. Add split peas, broth, chard stems (not leaves) and garam massala. Cover, bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Remove from heat. Transfer soup to blender (in batches), blend until smooth and return to soup pot.

4. Add water to thin soup as needed.

5. Add swiss chard leaves and simmer for 3 minutes. Taste and add salt if needed.

6. Serve with 1/2 piece of smokey tempeh bacon crumbled on top, along with parsley and scallions, if desired.

Note: You can use a commercial brand, like Fakin Bacon, or make your own. There’s a number of tempeh bacon recipes out there, but they generally involved sliced tempeh, marinated in soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, a little garlic, and maybe some maple syrup. Most also use liquid smoke to make it smokey, but I left that out and cooked mine in my Stovetop Smoker.

Can’t beat that for a smokey taste!