Easy Peasy Split Pea Kale Soup

Ever since Fanny from Cooking Vegan Food Up North visited and prepared a Swedish dinner for us, I've been making variations of this split pea soup.  Adding a swirl of yellow mustard to a soup was a new thing for me, but I love it!

The beauty of a split pea soup is that it comes together quickly and doesn't require pre-soaking the peas.  This, and the fact that I always have yellow split peas on hand, are probably the reasons that I make this dish a lot.  Oh and it's tasty, filling, and healthy!  This time I added diced bell pepper, shredded carrot, and Red Russian kale.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups yellow split peas
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 shallots, diced (or a small onion)
2 sprigs of thyme, stems discarded
7 cups vegetable broth
2 carrots, shredded
several handfuls of kale, chopped
yellow mustard

Method:
1. In a soup pot, saute dried split peas in olive oil for a 5-10 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Add the bell pepper, shallots, and thyme, and saute for another 5-10 minutes.
2. Add the vegetable broth and stir.  Cover pot and simmer 20-30 minutes until the peas are soft.  In the last 5 minutes, add the shredded carrot and stir.
3. Turn off heat.  Add kale to the pot, cover, and let steam for 5 minutes.
4. Top with a swirl of yellow mustard!