My cousin angel's split pea soup

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• A bag of organic baby carrots or ~6 carrots peeled and roughly chopped
  
• A bunch of celery, cleaned and roughly chopped
  
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 pound dried green split peas, rinsed
• 8 cups chicken stock or broth (I use my homemade stock, which is very easy to make in your slow cooker with leftover chicken bones)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Optional for the meat lovers: a ham hock bone (they're like 99 cents at any butcher) and/or chopped ham (1-2 cups).
• Pair this with a salad and/or some crusty bread
  

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.
  2. Add the onions and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Once the onions have softened add the garlic, bay leaf, split peas and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
  4. Add the broth/stock and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer and stir occasionally for 45 minutes or until the peas are tender.
  5. Remove soup pot from heat, discard the bay leaf, and puree using a hand-held immersion blender et voila!