Ingredients:
1 lb rutabaga, cubed
3 stalks celery, cubed (leaves included)
3 parsnips, cubed
3 carrots, cubed
2 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
juice and zest of one Meyer lemon
1 lb yellow split peas
2 quarts ham or chicken or vegetable stock (or water, if you have to)
2 teaspoons ground mustard
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lb cubed cottage ham, lightly browned (optional)

Directions:
Place the vegetables, lemon juice and zest, stock and spices in a 6-quart slow cooker. Stir. Cook on low 10-14 hrs.Stir in cottage ham, if desired.

My thoughts:

I started out thinking this would be a 4-quart recipe but after I added all of the vegetables my helpful husband chopped the night before, there wasn’t room left in the 4-quart for the split peas, much less the stock! So, I quickly switched it to the 6-quart crock* and was good to go. This is a great recipe to use up what ever odds and ends of vegetables are in the bin. As long as you keep the proportions about right, one could use more parsnips and less carrots or turnips (or even potatoes) instead of rutabaga and the soup would be just as good. This is also an awesome recipe if you want to use the slow cooker and will be gone a long time; it really is just as good at 10 hrs as it is at 14 or so. Of course, the longer you cook it, the more broken down the peas will be but it is just as tasty!

As always, I prepped the vegetables the night before. You can also place the split peas and spices in the (closed, cold) slow cooker the night before.

*This is why I love my 3-in-1 slow cooker!