Soup for Unseasonal Summer Weather

This Melbourne weather is crazy!!! 20C in the middle of summer. As soon as the temperature drops all I want to do is cook soup as it's my favourite lunchtime winter meal. The Northern Hemisphere bloggers have had me drooling over so many delicious looking soup recipes lately so I had to make the most of this cold spell and give one a go.

Legume based soups are always at the top of my list as they are a great source of protein and can take on so many different flavours. I decided to give this Smoky Chipotle Split Pea and Barley Soup a try however being the spice nut that I am, I chopped and changed the ingredient quantities to suit my taste. The soup tasted perfect to me - true hearty spicy comfort in a bowl! My adaptation is below, the only change I would make in the future would be to omit to the pearl barley as I wasn't too keen about the texture of it in this mix. 

Spicy Smoky Chipotle Split Pea and Barley Soup (Adapted from Sarah - The Ordinary Vegetarian)

1/4 cup water

1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp chipotle chilli powder 

1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika

1 bay leaf

8 cups water

3 Massel "Chicken" stock cubes 
1 & 1/2 cups yellow split peas, rinsed and picked over

1/3 cup pearl barley
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1 tbsp lime juice
Vegan sour cream and coriander leaves

Heat 1/4 cup water in a large pot and saute onion and garlic until the onion is translucent.  Stir in thyme, chipotle chilli powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and bay leaf, and saute for 1 minute stirring constantly.

Add 8 cups of water, stock cubes, and split peas. Turn up to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and partially cover. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

After 1 hour of simmering the peas should be starting to break down a bit. Add in the barley, and carrots and continue simmering for 45 minutes to an hour, until the peas have completely broken down. If the soup starts to thicken too much add extra water 1 cup at a time as needed, maintaining the thickness that you prefer.

When the split peas, barley and carrots are tender, remove from heat. Remove bay leaf and stir in liquid smoke and lime juice. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot, topped with a tablespoon of vegan sour cream and coriander leaves.