Split Pea Soup with Ham — Low and Slow for the Weeks That Ask Too Much

This week was hard at work. A child in the class had a home situation that escalated and we were required to file a report with DHR, which is the child welfare system, which I have dealt with from the other side of. I will not write details because it is not my story to tell. I will say that filling out that form with Ms. Patricia standing next to me, I had to stop twice and breathe, because I know what happens after the form. I know that the system the form activates is not always good or right or safe and I know that a child going into that system may be going somewhere worse than where they are.

I also know that not filing the form is never the right answer. Both of those things are true at once. That is one of the harder things about this work, the way it asks you to do things that are right and terrible at the same time.

I cooked a lot this week. That is what I do when things are difficult: I cook. I made cornbread, which is fast and simple and warm. I made black-eyed peas from dried, low and slow with a smoked ham hock. I made the bread again, the yeast bread, which I can now make mostly from memory. The apartment smelled good all weekend and the good smell was itself a small comfort.

Called Gloria on Sunday and told her about the week without naming the child. She listened and said: you did the right thing. I said I know. She said knowing and feeling it are different things. Give yourself time. She is right, as usual. I am giving myself time.

The black-eyed peas I made that weekend were their own thing, but the spirit behind them — dried legumes, smoked ham, low heat, time — is the same spirit in this soup, and it is the one I keep coming back to when I need something that asks almost nothing of me while it gives something back. You put it in the pot in the morning. You let it go. By evening the apartment smells like someone who loves you has been cooking all day, and that smell does work that nothing else quite can.

Split Pea Soup with Barley and Ham

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 8 hours (low) | Total Time: 8 hours 15 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 lb dried green split peas, rinsed and picked over
• 1/2 cup pearl barley, rinsed
• 1 smoked ham hock (about 1 to 1 1/2 lbs)
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• Salt to taste (add at the end)

Instructions

1. Layer the slow cooker. Add the rinsed split peas and barley to the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. Scatter the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic over the top.
2. Add the ham and liquid. Nestle the smoked ham hock into the center of the pot. Pour in the chicken broth and water. Add the bay leaf, thyme, smoked paprika, and black pepper.
3. Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours, until the split peas have broken down and the soup is thick and creamy. Do not cook on HIGH — low and slow gives the ham hock time to release its full flavor into the broth.
4. Remove the ham hock. Carefully lift the hock out of the pot. Let it cool slightly, then pull the meat from the bone, discarding the skin and bone. Shred or chop the meat and stir it back into the soup.
5. Remove the bay leaf and season. Discard the bay leaf. Taste the soup and add salt as needed — the ham hock will have added significant salt on its own, so season carefully.
6. Adjust consistency and serve. If the soup is thicker than you like, stir in additional warm water or broth a half cup at a time until it reaches your preferred texture. Ladle into bowls and serve with cornbread or crusty bread.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 22g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 44g | Fiber: 14g | Sodium: 520mg