This tasty soup is ready in just 30 minutes on the stove, or 3 hours in the slow cooker. All you need to add is carrots and water. This would make a lovely gift for a school teacher who needs a night off from cooking.
Ingredients–Layer in order in a quart size jar:
2 Tablespoons beef base powder
1/4 cup dried onions
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 bay leaves
1 lb of split peas
3/4 cup of hulled or pearl barley
Instructions: Combine soup mix with 8 cups of water and 2 cups of sliced carrots in a stock pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer on low for 30 minutes or until the peas and carrots are tender. Serve with cornbread or wheat bread. Optional: add 1 lb of sliced turkey sausage or ham.
Slow Cooker: Place mix, 8 cups of water and 2 cups of sliced carrots in a slow cooker. Cook on high for 3 hours. Optional: add 1 lb of sliced turkey sausage or ham.
(If you have dried carrots on hand, add enough carrots to fill the rest of the jar and have a just add water mix!)
I thought you couldn’t do dry beans (including lentils and split peas) with salt at the beginning or they’d stay hard. Have you had problems with this?
Lisa, This is a myth. Some beans do stay hard, but that is because they are so old–not because of any salt present. Beans that are too old to cook soft can still be ground into flour and used to add fiber and protein to baked goods–or cooked up for instant refried beans. I’ve done this, and the baked goods turned out well. (I used mine in cornbread.) But the instant refried beans had a “raw” flavor to them. Next time I will add more water so they can cook longer for better flavor.
Angela, great idea!
I would add dried carrots (sundried if possible, otherwise I own a dehydrator).
the +: only water needs to be added, so no need to buy/go/get anything . To me, thats real convenience 😉
(ever been single and tried to use up that produce lingering in your fridge?)
+ the carrots bring a nice touch of color, too – talking about presentation
Oh, and I would go for variations: mediterranian with sundried tomatos and spices acordingly mixed, etc…
Cheers, Katja
What’s “beef base powder” ??? and is there a vegetable sub for it???
Beef base powder is also called beef boullion. The best kind is MSG free and made from dehdrated beef broth. They do have vegetable broth powders. Or you can leave it out all together and use homemade broth to make your soup insead of water. Homemade vegetable broth is very easy and inexpensive to make, but will not have the health benefits of beef broth. Imitation beef broth powder is available and is made from texturized soy beans, but that stuff is about as fake as you can get. I don’t recommend it.
What size jar did you use for the soup ingredients to give as a gift? Also, do you have a source for the jars?
Cheryl, This was a quart size canning jar. You can get them at any dry goods store such as Wal-mart, Target, Tractor Supply, or a grocery store.
The other thing I would add is a piece of gingham or cute fabric scrap cut into a circle with pinking shears and tied with a piece of rafia ribbon.