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"Let&amp;#039;s say you just bought a deck of Uno cards and your 5-year-old is itching to play. This is the soup to make. The poor little guy waits just 15 minutes for you to brown some small pieces of ham then cook some onion, garlic and carrots. Once the split peas are in the pot with lots of chicken stock (or vegetable stock if you swing that way), you have a clear 45 minutes to play. You&amp;#039;ll find that yet again you have been reminded of good times from your own childhood. At least that&amp;#039;s how it worked for me.   This recipe is from Mark Bittman&amp;#039;s new cookbook, The Food Matters Cookbook. It has some nice finishing touches, with crisp ham, shredded mint and frozen peas stirred in at the end.   I started by chopping up a thick slice of deli ham, then browning it in some oil in a Dutch oven. While that&amp;#039;s cooking, chop a small onion, mince a big garlic clove and slice 3 carrots. Remove the ham from the pot and put it on a paper-towel-lined plate; use the fat left in the pan to cook the vegetables for a bit, just to soften the onions.   Once the vegetables are softened, add 1 1/2 cup split peas and 8 cups chicken stock. Bring to a boil then drop to a simmer and simmer until the peas are tender and mushy, anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes. I pureed at this point, which worked out fine because somehow the peas pureed without the carrots getting in there. Stir in a cup of frozen peas, and top individual bowls with mint and the cooked ham.  More veggie soups:  12 Very Veggie Soups \u2014 Kim Walker "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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