Spilt Pea Soup

Yes, it is a beautiful, sunny day in Southern California. I should be writing about salads and sea food. Today though, it's split pea soup. I eat beans of some kind six days a week out of seven. Bean soup, beans and rice, bean casseroles, bean loaves, beans, beans, beans. I like them, they are economical, tasty and with a whole grain a source of complete protein.
I grew up eating beans cooked with pork. Tails, hocks, ham bone, bacon and lard. There is nothing in my memory to match the flavor of green split pea soup with ham hocks. Or so I thought. One day a few weeks ago I stopped by a Mediterrean cafe for lunch. The cafe was serving split pea soup. It was delicious. I'm pretty sure all of the left over ends and bits of vegetables went into the stock. The soup was thickened with what appeared to be ricearoni, or maybe not.
When I cook split pea soup at home it is always either too thick or too watery. This week when I made my soup I added half a cup of brown rice and increased the amount of water. Bingo, just what was missing.
Here are the basics:
Whole bag of dried split green peas
1 medium onion chopped
2 cups of chopped celery
1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 grated carrot
1/2 cup brown rice
2 teaspoons dried dill or a half a hand full of fresh dill
Bay leaf
Salt to taste
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons good olive oil
Saute the vegetables with the herbs in the olive oil until limp
Put the peas in a heavy pot and add 8 cups of water or vegetable stock and the sauteed vegetables, bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer. Cook until the soup is the consistency you like. Add more water or stock if necessary.
You can add curry powder, cumin, or a variety of different spices to the soup to change or deepen the flavor.
Do you eat beans? What's your favorite recipe? A well fed soul is an artful soul.