Mushroom and Vegetable Soup, Easy to Make and Delicious

For most people it's Mushroom and Barley Soup or Cream of Mushroom Soup, but yesterday while making my extra easy Vegetable Soup, I suddenly thought of those nice big mushrooms in the fridge and decided to add them to my break the fast extra easy Vegetable Soup.

It was so delicious that my husband even complimented me on it. And it really was easy to make.

Ingredients, no need to measure:

• enough dried peas to very generously coat the bottom of your pot
• boiling water to drown the peas and later more to speed up the cooking process
• large onion cut up
• a few big carrots or lots of small ones, thickly sliced, or thin in the food processor, however you like it
• a few pieces of fresh garlic cut up
• a couple of green squash or zucchini
• a few or a lot of mushroom, cut into large pieces
• salt and pepper to taste
• cooking oil, soy, canola or olive, whatever you like

Instructions:

• A couple of hours before cooking, if you have the time, pour some boiling water over the peas, cover the pot and leave to pre-cook the peas. If you don't have the chance to do it early, you'll just have to cook the soup a bit longer until the peas soften. 
• Cut up all the vegetables and add them to the peas. Also add more boiling water and a couple of spoons of oil. The water shouldn't go over a thumb length from the top of the pot.
• Heat on a medium flame/heat until boiling, then lower the heat to simmer. Always cook soup covered. 
• When it's almost ready, add the salt and pepper. You'll need less that way.

If you had pre-cooked the peas, then the soup will be ready in about 45 minutes, otherwise it will take at least an hour or more. Don't serve it immediately after turning off the heat. The soup will finish cooking from its own heat, so take that into account. I sometimes cover the pot with a heavy towel after the flame is turned off to make sure it's really cooked well.

You can also add other vegetables and also greens like dill or parsley. Let me know how it comes out if you try it.