Dave, the field peas as per dilla's link and of what are typically used for "split-pea" soup are of the same family as "english peas" or "green peas", brought from europe to NA: pisum sativum. Southern peas or cowpeas of course as you know are the family Vigna from africa and have a dramatically different taste from pisum(IMO), Yeah, I know. Thus the use of "moniker" as opposed to genus or family since many use the common labels interchangeably, incorrectly but still interchangeably. A long discussion over on the Harvest forum some months back came up with several more alternate labels for them but I can't recall all the "we call them" names folks came up with. Sorry if any confusion. But whatever one calls them, they still are not productive enough in the typical home garden to off-set their inexpensive store-bought cost. Dave

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

I have never seen that brand of soup so I can't say if my recipe is anything like it. I'll post my recipe and you can look at the ingredients and see if it seems right. It is a very rich, butter flavored soup, the cumin gives it a different flavor than any other split pea soup I have had. Yellow Split Pea Soup 1 lb dried yellow split peas 1 lb ham, julienned 8 cups water 1 bay leaf 2 TSPS butter 2 stalks celery, chopped 1 large onion, chopped 2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp dried marjoram, crushed 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper 1. In a 6 quart dutch oven, combine the peas, ham, water, and bay leaf. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour stirring occasionally. 2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt the butter, add the celery and onion. Saute for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are crisp tender. stir in the salt, cumin, marjoram, and pepper. Cook and stir for a minute or two. Add the Vegetable mixture to the split pea mixture. Cover the pot and simmer for 40 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Makes 8 servings. 371 calories, 33 g protein, 37 g carbs, 11 g fat, 633 mg sodium.

Well, when I googled it up, I came up with this recipe about 4 times on different web sites - maybe this will help you out. Split Pea Tortellini Soup Mix 3 ounces dried cheese-filled tortellini (2/3 cup) 1/4 cup dried tomatoes -- snipped 1/3 cup dried split green peas 1/2 cup dried chopped carrots 1 tablespoon instant chicken bouillon granules 1 tablespoon dried minced onion 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil -- crushed 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme -- crushed 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper Layer ingredients in a large jar. GIFT TAG INSTRUCTIONS: To make Split Pea Tortellini Soup: Empty jar ingredients into a 3-quart saucepan. Add 5 cups water. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 50 minutes or until peas are tender. (Option: Add 1 cup chopped cooked ham or sausage.) Serves 4. Here is a link that might be useful: Soup Mix