Break-Fast Vegetable Mushroom Soup

Here's my latest (made yesterday) version of a very easy and always tasty TNT Vegetable Soup. Since I had a lot of mushrooms in the fridge, they went into the soup. Yesterday was the Jewish fast day of Tzom (The Fast of) Gedaliah. I've made it a custom to break my fasts, whenever possible, on freshly made Vegetable Soups. They hit the spot, absolutely perfect for breaking the fast and any other type of day. I first started the custom when the children were still living at home. So then I'd also make fresh homemade rolls and/or pizza. But at our age, that's just too much food, whether after a fast or any time. I just serve myself a few bowls of soup. My husband gets a bit more of a meal.

Stage one:
Pour about a cup of dried *peas in large pot and check them for stones, etc.
Boil water and pour over peas. Cover the pot and let it wait for an hour or more.
*Instead of peas, you can use any lentils and/or barley. If you want to use beans, then start earlier, because you will have to cook the beans, depending on the type, for well over an hour, besides the soaking.

Stage two:
About an hour and a half or more before planned serving time, take the pot to the stove and start cooking the peas. Lower flame/heat to simmer as soon as it begins to boil. Make sure you have enough water, so that it doesn't burn, since the peas absorb the water.

Stage three:

Take out the vegetables you want in the soup. Besides an onion and fresh garlic, this time I used a squash, carrots and mushrooms. You can cook different vegetables, such as sweet potato, pumpkin, potato, cauliflower, zucchini, etc. If you want dark green or leafy vegetables, like broccoli, cabbage or spinach, save to add just before soup is fully cooked.
You may certainly add greens like parsley, celery, etc.
Cut/slice the vegetables into bite-sized pieces either by hand or food-processor and add them to the boiling peas/lentils/beans. Boil up water and add to the cooking soup to cover, plus. Simmer after it reaches boil.
Exact quantities depend on your pot and how thick/rich you want your soup. 
When the vegetables are soft, add salt and pepper to taste. After another few minutes, turn off the flame. The soup will finish cooking on its own. You can cover the pot with a thick towel to keep it hot if you won't be serving it for more than an hour.

If other things are cooking on the stove, then remove the pot to a heat-resistant surface to prevent the towel catching on fire.

Your soup is now ready to eat. Enjoy!

Vegetable Mushroom Soup