Trail Food: Split Pea Soup

Today we sampled Nile Spice Split Pea Soup for lunch. After being somewhat disappointed with Nile Spice Red Beans & Rice Soup earlier this week, we had lowered expectations for their split pea soup. We were pleasantly surprised.

Following the instructions, we added hot water, stirred and waited 5-minutes. Unlike the Red Beans & Rice soup which was thin, the Split Pea Soup was thicker and this was noticeable during stirring. The soup retained heat and had a pleasing green color and consistency.

The ingredients listed include split peas, potatos, onions, carrots, and celery. We're not a fan of celery, but the celery taste was not noticeable, nor was the garlic. We did chance across the odd diced carrot from bite to bite. What was noticeble was the potato. The soup seems to use dehydrated potato flakes, a trail food staple, as a thickener. Unfortunately, after each sip and/or spoonful, we were left with that annoying gunk between our gums and cheeks. You know the stuff. We needed to sip some water and swish and swallow between gulps.

The amount that comes in Nile Spices single serving cups is rather sparse. With their Red beans & Rice soup we were confident of adding more minute rice to make a heartier dish. Their Split Pea Soup is a bit more challenging. Perhaps more potato flakes could be added to make a heartier, split pea flavored, mashed potato side. We may try that experiment sometime in the future, but probably not before our upcoming trip. We like our mashed potatoes with butter, salt, and pepper; not with split peas.

If you're looking for something light and gourmet for a hot trail lunch, Nile Spice Split Pea Soup fills the bill. But for dinner, we'll stick to heartier ramen soup with added veggies, meat, etc.