Subway Musings

I had a few remaining thawed artichoke hearts and peas from the other night, so on the commute home I day-dreamed about what combinations of things I could create when I got into the kitchen. I probably looked like a crazy person, staring off into oblivion and then smirking when I thought of something really delicious. By the time I got to Greenpoint I thought of three dishes to make: pan-fried kielbasy (picked up on the way home) with roasted sweet potatoes, artichoke hearts, and red onion(and of course garlic for good measure); a deliciously Spring salad with homemade blue cheese dressing; a rich yellow split pea soup. The soup wasn’t specifically for dinner, it was more for lunches this week - as I’m not a fan of waking up and making sandwiches.

The soup is super simple and is virtually fat-free and vegetarian – but it’s actually good.

1 package of dry yellow split peas
Two seeded and chopped Jalapeños
Medium onion quartered
3-4 garlic cloves
4 whole sprigs of Italian parsley, chopped
1 tbs of chopped fresh ginger
Scant tbs of curry powder (all I had!)
Salt to taste

This is so easy! It’s also a weird hybrid of my parents as my mom makes incredible, though traditional, split pea soup and my dad puts curry on everything. I literally threw everything in a big stock pot, except the salt. Cover with cold water by an inch or two. Bring contents to a boil, then put the lid on and simmer to a divine mush, which usually takes about an hour. I added nearly a tbs of salt at the end. It made four huge servings.

I also concocted my first ever blue cheese dressing. It made a little more than Jordan and I needed for our salad and would be excellent in an egg salad...

A few 1-inch chunks of blue cheese
A few tbs of sour cream
A tbs of light Hellmann's Mayonnaise
Scant tsp of Dijon mustard
A tbs or so of white wine vinegar
Drop of Olive Oil to loosen
Lots of black pepper
Garlic Powder


I think that was it it...I basically put the first two ingredients into a teacup and smashed it up, then added the mayo, mustard, vinegar, etc. Be sure to taste along the way. I put it on top of a salad composed of red leaf lettuce, radishes, peas, scallions, hard-boiled eggs and crispy Canadian bacon. So so good.