This fabulous, hearty, fiber rich soup is my very favorite split pea soup!  It’s chock full of healthful ingredients such as green peas, pearl barley, carrots and onions.  To keep it skinny, I’m using lean chunks of ham but adding them after the soup is cooked. This popular soup is usually cooked with a fatty ham hock in it. Leave the ham out all together and this water based soup makes a wonderful vegetarian soup! The skinny for a very filling 1 cup serving, 303 calories, 3 grams of fat, 6 grams of fiber and 8 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS. 

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1½ hour

Ingredients

2 quarts water (8 cups)

1 pound dried split peas (green)

½ cup pearl barley

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 clove garlic, minced or 2 teaspoons garlic (from a jar)

½ teaspoon salt

½ tablespoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon dried sage

Pinch of ground cumin

½ cups carrots, diced

1 cup onions, chopped

2 cups lean ham or turkey ham, diced, see shopping tip

Fresh ground pepper

Instructions

1. In a large pot, combine the water, split peas, barley, bay leaves, salt, soy sauce, garlic, thyme, sage, and cumin. Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 1 hour.

2. Add the prepared carrots and onion. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes.

3. Discard the bay leaves and stir in the diced ham.

Serves 8 (1 cup serving each)

Food Facts
Split pea soup has been around for thousands of years.  There are records of this soup being made and sold by street vendors in Greek and Roman societies as early as 500 to 400 B.C.  Many cultures have relied on this soup in times when meat protein sources were hard to come by, primarily in the winter.

Barley is a versatile cereal grain with a rich nutty flavor and an appealing chewy, pasta-like consistency. Its appearance resembles wheat berries, although it is slightly lighter in color.

Healthy Benefits
Split peas are full of fiber, a good amount of protein, two B-vitamins and several important minerals.

Barley contains a lot of fiber and selenium, and a good source of phosphorus, copper and manganese.

Vegetarian Tip
If you want to make this soup vegetarian just leave out the ham. The water based broth and barley still makes it a delicious and hearty vegetarian soup.

Shopping Tip
I used delicious, lean ham that I bought at Trader Joe’s.  It’s uncured and contains ‘no nitrates’!  Sometimes I use their lean pastrami instead of the ham. it also contains no nitrates.

Storage Tip
This soup will keep in the fridge for several days and freezers great.  It will thicken with time so add a little water before reheating.

Weight Watchers (old points) 6
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 8