Kitchen Chemistry

There are days that I feel motivated to be in the kitchen and see what develops! First I may go through the freezer to see what grains or legumes are on hand. The next step is to check out the refrigerator and circulate the food by preparing what needs to be used first - while it is still fresh. What I need to use - decides the dish. I trust this process.

After I place the produce on the counter, I can then scan through my cupboards to see what else can be used, giving me the intuitive ideas of what I can prepare.

Yesterday, I found about 2-3 cups of split peas in the freezer, so I decided to make SPLIT PEA SOUP since I had celery, carrots, white onions and Yukon potatoes.
Basically, I cut up the above produce, except the onions and garlic, and placed them in a bowl.

I don't always document a recipe because it takes away from my intuitive spontaneity and flow. Documenting a recipe takes me into my head – with having to stop and measure and write down the details. Actually, I find a difference in the way recipes taste – so I prefer preparing recipes spontaneously, as well as teaching others to learn to trust their intuition. In the beginning, there may be something to learn from this process that will make your style of cooking unique! So I encourage you to give it a try.

First I diced a large onion and minced garlic and sautéed it with 1 tablespoon of liquid amino's in a 5-quart pot until they were translucent. Usually I will soak the split peas the night before to avoid longer cooking time, but I didn't, so I just rinsed them and added them to the pot with about 14 cups of water. After turning on the high heat and bringing the soup to a rolling boil, I turned it down to low-boil. I added a couple of medium size bay leaves and when the split peas were tender and broken down I added the cut vegetables and potatoes. I like adding cumin and coriander to a recipe like this, but I found I had no coriander, so instead I added garam masala (a blend of ground spices common in Northern India and South Asia). I like being heavy handed with the seasoning of herbs and spices. In this way the dish has a good deal of flavor. When all of the ingredients were tender and the bay leaves were removed, I re-tasted the soup and added the finishing touches of white miso (to taste) and some sea salt (to taste). Miso should always be added at the end of a soup, after the heat is turned off. In this way the delicate properties of beneficial friendly intestinal flora contained in miso will not be destroyed.

Sometimes intuitive cooking means adjusting a recipe – adding more water or even more vegetables and seasonings –– it all works out - with attention to texture and tasting as your dish cooks. Keep adjusting and tasting until you reach a desired flavor!


I was somewhat concerned about whether my husband would like the soup because he's used to a much thicker version of Split Pea soup. Instead, he raved about the soup, saying it was a "keeper!" Sometimes I secretly wish that I documented a recipe and at the same time I know that when the creative process takes over - a recipe may come out differently each time - yet, it comes out surprisingly delicious!