Split Pea and Barley Soup

These are the days of nourishing soups and stews. We've been experimenting with the silly idea of not adding a stick of butter to every dish, so this one is actually very low on the fat side and the salt side. We started with onion, garlic, red bell pepper, carrot, potato, and celery browned in a scant two tablespoons of olive oil. When soft we added low-sodium chicken stock to cover, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, basil, black pepper, split peas, barley, and tofu sausage. We brought up heat and simmered for 20 minutes, then added 2 tablespoons of miso.