Monday, January 25, 2016

GUILT-FREE PLEASURE

by Chris Pavesic

Cooking for a family that has food allergies is challenging, primarily because those allergies may change over time (depending upon the degree of sensitivity). One food my family always enjoyed during the winter months was pea soup—until one member could no longer eat ham. So I worked out this recipe that serves four as a meatless pea soup that meets my family’s flavor standards.

Vegan Pea Soup
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1 cup dried peas
3 cups water
½ cup baby carrots
½ cup green pepper. diced
½ cup celery—diced
1 tbsp. parsley flakes
½ tbsp. celery flakes
2 tsp. sea salt
¼ cup onions, diced (optional)
4 baked or boiled potatoes, peeled and diced (optional)

Rinse the peas thoroughly before placing them in a saucepan. Add 2 cups of water. Add all the remaining ingredients except the potatoes. Cover the saucepan and simmer for 2 hours, adding the final cup of water at about the 1 hour mark.

The peas should be tender. If they are still somewhat firm at the 2 hour mark, continue to simmer, checking the consistency every 15 minutes. It is fine to add a splash of extra water if needed.

Notes: I adjusted the amount of vegetables and used spices that my family members can eat. If you and yours can eat them and enjoy the taste, add ¼ cup diced onions to the ingredients.

Serving Suggestions: This can be served as the soup course of a meal, or combined with the baked potatoes to create a hearty lunch.

Evenly distribute the diced potatoes into four large soup bowls. Ladle the pea soup over the potatoes and enjoy!

Please enjoy an excerpt from my latest fantasy Heart & Mind

Heart and MindA princess with hair as golden as a sunflower and eyes as green as apples was blessed from birth to have beauty and power and to marry a prince on her eighteenth birthday. Unfortunately for all concerned, there is only one eligible prince in all of the kingdoms, and before he agrees to marry the princess, he wants a magical guarantee that she will look a certain way, talk a certain way, and even think only what he wants. What is a fairy godmother to do?

Sometimes a fairy godmother needs more than magic.

In a kingdom by the sea there lived a princess with hair as golden as a sunflower and eyes as green as apples. She was blessed from birth by a fairy godmother who wished for her to have beauty and power and to marry a prince on her eighteenth birthday.

Of course, the fairy godmother deliberately gave this particular blessing to the princess just to make my life a living misery.

You see, one of the benefits of being a fairy godmother is that you know the exact date of your own death. The knowledge just comes to you, sometimes decades in advance. That particular fairy godmother knew she was going to die just before the princess reached the age of eighteen; she wouldn’t be alive to see the outcome of her blessing. Even back then she could feel the magic starting to gather—starting to pour from her body into the wand as it prepared to transfer to the new host—so she decided to have a little fun with the person who inherited her position.

Lucky me.

View the Trailer on YouTube

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Praise for Heart & Mind:

“The author has managed to weave an intricate web about being true to yourself. One shouldn't be guided or led by others. Above all, feel the magic in your own heart. As the fairy godmother believes sometimes it is best not to mess with destiny.” –Chief, USN Ret...VT Town—a Top 500 Reviewer on Amazon.com

Read excerpts from all of the books written by Chris Pavesic on Amazon.


Chris Pavesic is a fantasy author who lives in the Midwestern United States and loves Kona coffee, steampunk, fairy tales, and all types of speculative fiction. Between writing projects, Chris can most often be found reading, gaming, gardening, working on an endless list of DIY household projects, or hanging out with friends. Learn more about Chris on her website.

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5 comments:

  1. Wonderful sounding soup, Chris! Congrats on your latest fantasy! Cheers!

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  2. A saintly but very tasty looking soup Chris.

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    Replies
    1. It smells heavenly when it is cooking!

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  3. Thanks for letting me visit your kitchen, Sloane!

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    Replies
    1. You're always welcome, Chris. Love your recipes and your books,

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