Split Pea Soup

Darlene wanted something mellow for dinner so I thought about soup. Then I thought about listening to last week's Erik's Diner podcast today and the interview with Isa Chandra Moskowitz. At one point she mentioned that she likes curry spices with her split pea soup. So that's what we did tonight. It was very similar to the split pea soup we've already written about, but instead of marjoram and bay leaf for the seasoning, I added corriander, cumin, turmeric, and some cardamom pods. I also added some finely diced fresh ginger. Like bay leaves, the whole cardamom pods impart flavor but are not good to eat, so make sure you count how many you add (I used 6) so you can fish them all out when the soup's done.

Oh, and we had the soup with some toast spread with a red pepper tapenade. The tapenade came from a jar that was part of my Christmas gift from my parents and it's pretty tasty.