Here are a couple of tasty variations in different colors: Red Lentil Soup With Lemon (NY Times 1/9/08) Time: 45 minutes 3 tablespoons olive oil, more for drizzling 1 large onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper Pinch of ground chili powder or cayenne, more to taste 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth 1 cup red lentils 1 large carrot, peeled and diced Juice of 1/2 lemon, more to taste 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro. 1. In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons oil over high heat until hot and shimmering. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until golden, about 4 minutes. 2. Stir in tomato paste, cumin, salt, black pepper and chili powder or cayenne, and sauté for 2 minutes longer. 3. Add broth, 2 cups water, lentils and carrot. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pot and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary. 4. Using an immersion or regular blender or a food processor, purée half the soup then add it back to pot. Soup should be somewhat chunky. 5. Reheat soup if necessary, then stir in lemon juice and cilantro. Serve soup drizzled with good olive oil and dusted lightly with chili powder if desired. Yield: 4 servings. ============================================================ Yellow Split Pea and Sweet Potato Soup (www.wholefoods.com) 1 cup yellow split peas 1 quart vegetable broth 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch slices 7 whole green cardamom pods 1Â2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter) or canola oil 1 medium yellow onion, chopped 1 teaspoon garam masala 1/2Â1 teaspoon ground cumin lemon Cayenne pepper sea salt, to taste ground pepper, to taste Soak the peas in water to cover overnight. Drain and rinse. Bring vegetable broth to a boil in a medium pot. Add soaked peas, sweet potato slices and cardamom pods. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer for an hour. (N.B. I skipped the soaking and gave the split peas a 15 minute head start and simmered until the peas and potato were falling apart -- less than an hour) Heat ghee in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions, garam masala and cumin and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. When sweet potatoes and peas are tender, add the spiced onions to the pot. Stir and cook another 5 minutes. Remove cardamom pods and season the soup with lemon, cayenne, salt, and pepper, as desired. Serves 4

Here are two I have used. I make the first one most often, but the second one is a meatless pea soup recipe I have also made: Hearty Split Pea Soup 1 bag (1 lb.) dry split peas 8 cups water 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed 2 large onions, chopped - 2 medium carrots, chopped 2 cups cubed cooked ham ½ cup chopped celery 5 tsp. chicken bouillon granules 1 tsp. each dried marjoram, poultry seasoning, rubbed sage ½ to 1 tsp. pepper ½ tsp. dried basil ½ tsp. salt 2 bay leaf  remove after cooking In Dutch oven combine all ingredients, bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours until peas and vegetables are tender. Yield: 12 servings (3 qts.) Add water if desired ANDERSENÂS ORIGINAL SPLIT PEA SOUP (Meatless) 2 qts. Water (8 cups) 2 cups green split peas 1 branch of celery, coarsely chopped 1 large carrot, chopped 1 small onion, chopped ¼ tsp. ground thyme 1 pinch cayenne pepper  1 bay leaf (remove after cooking) salt and black pepper. Combine ingredients except salt and pepper in large kettle, bring to boil and boil vigorously, uncovered for 20 minutes. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until peas are tender, about 40 minutes. Taste and season w/salt and pepper to taste. Whirl in blender or food processor for finely textured soup. 8 servings  1 cup = 185 calories.

Food grade peas or beans are not treated with chemicals for drying. Your split pea soup is fine to eat. We wash split peas and dried beans to remove the dust created by all the dried peas banging together. Soaking them is to remove all the floaters (which will not be dangerous to eat either) and make tthose hard little semi spheres soft to cook faster. It will not hurt you to eat soup made from peas that have not been washed or soaked. Enjoy your soup I wish I had made some too! It's COLD today! LIL

OMG - 30-hours! How full was your cooker? Don't fill a slow-cooker more than 1/2-3/4 full. As far as hot water VS cold water - I found recipes for split pea soup that use both, but when I use a slow-cooker I preheat the cooker and add hot liquids, if possible. Preheating the crock before adding ingredients or cooking on the highest setting for the first hour will ensure a rapid heat start. Either will shorten the time foods are in the temperature danger zone. You may want to test the actual temperature of your slow-cooker to see if you have a temperature problem. How to do a simple water test: Place 4 quarts of room temperature water in your slow cooker, cover, and cook on high (or low) for six hours, then measure the temperature of the water with an instant-read thermometer. It should register between 170-280°F to yield the best results. If yours runs hotter or colder, be ready to check the food for doneness either earlier or later than our suggested cook times. (You may also want to do this on each setting to be sure that both are on target.) -Grainlady