Hey Autumn, what’s up? When are you coming? With these hot flashes and our newly naked house, summer is unbearable. If you live in a fire-risk zone in California, home insurance companies won’t insure you or they’ll triple your insurance if you have trees or any plants within 5 feet of the house walls. So our landlord was forced to cut down all the trees, flowers, bushes and now it’s even hotter than before, even with the AC on.

On the bright side, I’m having good creative momentum — I’ve started writing and illustrating another cookbook — so I’d like to spend less time in the kitchen. Oxymoron, I know, but you get what I mean. Soups are meals but easy and pretty effortless meals, that you can eat anywhere in the house.

Eating any other meal at my desk near my iMac, in bed, or on the couch would give my husband a heart attack. As long as the soup is in a mug, it’s fine. Relax, I also prefer the dining table, but you have to admit that sometimes it’s nice to munch on something in bed. I do most of my drawing and reading in bed or on the floor. I think it’s got to do with the fact that I didn’t have my own room or desk until I was sixteen, and that I find desks too clerky and uncomfortable.

Health facts:
Although I’m the queen of health, I don’t like to use the word “healthy” or preach about health because I think that health is an individual thing. However, I do want to mention that soups are easier to digest than raw foods. Meaning, when you’re feeling like crap or fighting off something, drinking cooked veggies is way easier on your gut and immune system than eating raw stuff.

What’s more, peas are great source of protein.

Soup Essentials:
As a minimalist and a pretty bad consumer, I don’t usually encourage people to buy more shit they don’t need. However, this list is for those young people, like my son who just left for college and are starting from scratch. In this case, having the basic tools to make soups is essential.

1. Soup pot – If you cook for yourself or up to 4 people, or make extra to freeze, I recommend using a medium-size (8 quart) stainless stockpot.
2. Hand blender– Some like their soups lumpy and bumpy. Some like them silky smooth. I like them slightly smooth and bumpy. Blitzing the soup with a hand blender is much easier and less messy than blending it in a regular blender.
3. Fine-Mesh strainer – To strain broth.
4. Vegetable peeler – OXO good grip, the peeler of the earth. A high-quality sharpened vegetable peeler with a good grip is a must. Tough skins may be quickly removed with a sharp peeler, which also minimizes waste by removing only the outer layer. For improved control, look for one with a swiveling blade and a comfortable grip.
5. Soup containers – You can use jars or any containers if you store it in the fridge for a day or two. But if you freeze than you want to use thick glass containers like Pyrex. If you’re using plastic containers, make sure they are BPA-free. Plastic and heat is a recipe for a health disaster.
6. Ladle – for the same reason I would only use metal, wooden or ceramic ladles, no plastic. If you don’t trust my intuition, google.

A few notes about this soup:

• This split pea soup is as delicate and comforting as a cashmere sweater, yet cheap as synthetic wool. I would make and serve it even if I were a billionaire. It’s pretty basic and simple, though I consider it upscale. 
• Salt slows down the cooking of legumes, so it’s better to add it when the split peas are tender.
• If you make it with both split peas and fresh or frozen peas, it is even more exquisite. 

More easy soups, not only for young people who recently flew out of the nest:

Red lentil soup with kale
white bean & tomato soup
Coconut pumpkin soup