Split pea curry soup

I love split pea soup, but rarely eat it because all canned versions have ham in them (the ones that don't have actual chunks of ham have some kind of ham essence) or they're $2 a can and made by Wolfgang Puck. Wolfgang, thanks for thinking of the vegetarians, but I think I'll do it myself. This is Alton Brown's recipe from foodnetwork.com, and it's super easy and very, very filling--oof. I made a couple changes--omitted onion, subbed in veggie stock for chicken, but am pretty true to Alton's vision.

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces split peas sorted and rinsed--I'd use the whole bag (16 oz next time, just so I don't have four leftover ounces.
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic--I used fresh, about 2.5 cloves, I'm not a huge garlic fan
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon curry powder--The only curry powder I could find was Jamaican mild, which was a bit mild, I added an extra 1/2 tablespoon
• Salt and Pepper

Place the butter into a large (4 to 6-quart) saucepan over medium-low heat. Once melted, add the garlic and sweat for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the peas, stock and curry powder. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook at a simmer until the peas are tender and not holding their shape any longer, approximately 45 to 50 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Using care and a stick blender, puree the soup until the desired consistency. Watch out for hot splatters.

Fantastic and cheap! This is going to make me really happy this winter.

Split peas- $1.50 for a 16 ounce bag

garlic-- I had on hand but probably paid less than a dollar for the whole head

stock-- $.20

curry powder-- was $3 for a big jar that will last a long time so I probably used $.30 worth.
That's about $2.00 for six servings or $.35 apiece--not too shabby.