SMOKY GREEN SPLIT PEA SOUP

"I don't want to eat anything with the word smoky in it," said Alessandra when I suggested we make this soup.  Hence, from that point on we discussed preparing (Smoky) Green Split Pea Soup - the smoky is silent.  It is a perfect Saturday late afternoon meal to make while girls watch Santa Buddies movie.  The prep was a bit more extensive than I like it to be - chopping of onion, celery, carrots, sweet potato (along with peeling).  To me that's a lot of prep.  On top of that the cook time was an hour +.  I would have liked to use the smoked tofu at the end, but stupid market nearby, haver of all things healthy and cool, did not have any.  Fortunately author suggested as an alternate Fakin Bacon Tempeh Strips.  During the simmer I fried those guys up and let them cool before finally crumbling into the finished soup.  Oh man, this was a good one.  I don't know if it was the inclusion of sweet potato or the paprika directly from the Istanbul Spice Bazaar, but this was hands down the Best. Split. Pea. Soup. Ever.