Snow in March and Slow-cooker Sweet Potato and Bean Soup

Well, it is March and I am dreaming of Spring, but alas... we are expecting our biggest snowfall of the year today! Fortunately, the snow doesn't seem to be sticking very much, but it is still cold and wet outside, so I am feeling like soup. Usually I reserve the crockpot for when I am going to be in meetings all day and coming home late, but I thought it would be perfect to use today as I try to get a bunch of work done. Plus, I've been crockpot crazy this winter and have used it more than ever before in order to have dinners waiting for me when I get home.

I started by sautéing onions, peppers, and garlic. It's not necessary to sauté before putting everything in the crockpot, but I like the extra caramelized flavor and I have time to do it today, so I caramelized before adding everything into the pot. To the veggies, I added tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, ginger, and some seasonings. I set the crockpot to low and waited for the finished product a few hours later.

I decided to add some kale close to the end because 1) I love kale and 2) why not add a little green to this colorful soup?

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

Yesterday's pea soup was so great, that I wanted more peas today. I knew I was going to be stuck in meetings all day and the weather is still crummy, so I thought I would make use of the crockpot and have a nice hot bowl of soup waiting for me after work. I also have a couple pounds of split peas sitting around that I've been waiting to use.


I looked up a few recipes online, but didn't find anything that made me excited, so I created my own using inspiration from the others. I started by sautéing onions, celery, and carrots. Once they were almost done, I added some kale. Why kale? Well, I love kale and split pea soup does not have a very attractive color, so why not add a little extra green?

While the veggies were sautéing, I rinsed the peas and made sure that no gross ones or rocks were hiding in the batch. I only found one that looked like it didn't belong... I'm not sure if that is a good number or if I should have found more!

Once the veggies were done, I added them to the crockpot with the peas, some herbs, a bay leaf, and about 6 cups of veggie broth. I set it to high while I was getting ready for work and then moved it down to low to sit for the next 6 hours or so.