For some reason or another, last week Kegan and I managed to skip our weekly grocery shop. Luckily we had done a large shop the week before so I was able to just barely scrape by. This was one of the last meals I made that week, putting good use to the final remans of our refrigerator. Sometimes all you need is a little push to get your kitchen creativity flowing. This dish was a hit! I am happy to say Poppy and Kegan devoured it.

*Please use this recipe as a guideline. It doesn’t have to be exact. I honestly just tossed it together… I’m sure you could use all sorts of yummy veg in this dish….maybe even toss in a little fresh arugala! Yum. or try switching up the cheese maybe add a little aged white cheddar to the mix?

Serves 4-6

2 cups peas

olive oil

2 cups red cabbage, shredded

2 cups brussel sprouts, shredded

rice pasta, 4-6 servings ( you could also try this with brown or wild rice )

Lemon cream sauce:

2 tbsp butter

1 1/2-2 tbsp flour

2 cups milk, heated. I used whole milk ( or 1 cup milk one cup cream )

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup parmesan, grated

1 lemon

salt and pepper

Fill a small pot  about 1/2 of the way with water. Bring to a boil, add the peas and cook for 2 minutes or until just tender ( if the peas are frozen cook for 3 minutes ) Rinse with cold water and strain. Set aside.

In a medium pan over medium high heat add a little olive oil, add the cabbage and brussel sprouts and cook for about 3 minutes or until the bottoms begin to brown. Stir and cook for anouther 3 minutes, until tender. Remove from heat.

Cook the pasta according to package. Set aside.

In a medium pan over medium heat add 2 tbsp butter, let melt. Add the flour and whisk until you have a smooth paste. Add the milk and garlic. Whisk until the sauce begins to boil and is smooth and has thickened. Add the cheese and stir until combined. Remove from heat, add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl toss everything together. Top with a little freshly grated parm. Serve. Enjoy.

I love Pea soup, my Husband loves pea soup. Unfortunately we do not love the same Pea soup. My favourite is Habiton pea soup in a can mmmmmmm! I love it so much it is guaranteed that I will not be able to wait for it to cook before I have jumped in spoon first to the cold pot of soup. Kegan on the other hand was born in Montreal and grew up eating and loving traditional french-Canadian split pea soup. Because of this I have learned to love and appreciate both styles. Recently we spent a week at his family cottage in the Laurentians, it was cold….. but oh so cozy and we spent our time eating every comfort food you could imagine. Meat pie,Chicken pot pie,lasagna, Mac’n cheese, shepards pie and Split pea soup from a local restaurant. It is this soup that I have tried to recreate. I am not saying it’s the same…at all but it’s the same style and it made Kegan very happy.

•  2 tbl butter
• 2 ½ cups of dried yellow split peas
• 1 small bunch of carrots,peeled and chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 med Onion,diced
• 1 Leek,chopped
• 1 smoked ham hock ( 1lb )
• 1tsp dried Thyme
• 1tsp dried Savoury
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large pot sweat the onions,leeks,carrots and butter over   med-high heat until the onions become translucent about 5-7 min.
2. Add water ,split peas,ham hock,bay leaves,thyme and savoury.
3. Bring soup to a boil over high heat then reduce to med-low and simmer.Place lid on pot and let it go for about 3 hours or until the peas are soft and turning into a puree.
4. Remove the ham hock and pull the meat off of the bone. Now you can cut it into chunks. I like smaller chunks but if you like a bigger bite of meat go for it! Set meat aside ( do not put back into the pot as you will be using the immersion blender and will lose the yummy ham chunks )
5. remove the bay leaves.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Now you can use that immersion blender and make the soup as smooth as you like.If you prefer a chunkier soup skip this step.
8. Last but not least add the Ham and serve!

* Please note I used Ham that I had pre-cooked and in the freezer ( gasp! ) I know this sounds gross but I have a good reason for having a boat load of frozen pre-cooked ham in my freezer…it was from my baby shower that I didn’t get to go to as my water broke the morning of the shower. All the food was kindly packed up and sent to my home and whatever could be frozen was frozen.