Nutritious soups make everything better. Having a few homemade soup recipes is an easy way to get your five a day and make the most of the seasons’ vegetables. The recipe below is a delicious Greek Cypriot soup made with yellow split peas called Louvana.

Yellow split peas are pulses that look like lentils but are actually dried yellow peas. They take a little longer to cook than lentils and are packed with protein, fiber and nutrients as other legumes do. To reduce the cooking time, soak the yellow split peas and rice in water for a few hours before cooking. They are done in half the time plus soaking legumes and grains makes them easier to digest.

The recipe below includes extra vegetables for flavour and nutrition, brown rice and white sweet potato but you can also use any potato you have. Adjust the consistency of the soup with extra water, but it is normally a thick and filling soup.

Louvana

Serves 4

1 cup yellow split peas

¼ cup brown rice

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large brown onion, peeled and chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

1 medium white sweet potato or potato, peeled and cubed

1 bay leaf

3 cups water

Sea salt

Juice of ½ - 1 lemon, to taste

Topping: chopped parsley, black olives

1. Soak the peas and rice in plenty of water for a few hours. I usually to this in the morning and cook the soup later in the day. Drain and rinse well before using.

2. In a soup pot, sauté the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in olive oil for about 4-5 minutes or until the vegetables have softened. Add the sweet potato, soaked peas and rice, bay leaf and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer with the lid on for about 20 minutes until the peas and rice are soft. Season with salt and lemon juice and blend until smooth. If the soup is too thick, add a little more water.

3. Serve topped with fresh parsley and a side of Greek olives, such as kalamata or throumbes (salty dried black olives).