Yellow Split Pea Stew With Kale and Smoked Paprika

It's been an unusually cold week in Colorado. So, it seemed like a good time to try a recipe for Yellow Split Pea Soup with Smoked Paprika posted at Elana's Pantry. I liked the idea of a steaming bowl of soup with split peas and kale. I was also intrigued by the recipe's use of smoked paprika; my mom's family is Hungarian, so I'm familiar with paprika, but I'd never heard of the smoked variety. Turns out it's a Spanish cousin of the paprika that I grew up with. And deeelicious.
While I used many of the same ingredients as Elana, I changed things up a bit. Rather than using vegetable broth, I cooked the peas and kale together, to create their own broth. Also, I added the smoked paprika at a different stage of the cooking process, and didn't puree the split peas.

Ingredients
1 cup yellow split peas, picked over and rinsed
1 bunch kale, washed
5 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 onion, washed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 clove garlic, minced
8 ounces mushrooms, washed and chopped
1 teaspoon salt

Tear the green portion of the kale leaves from the center veins. Discard the veins and chop the greens.

Place the split peas and kale in a large pot with the water and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and cook, covered, for about an hour, until the peas are tender and starting to fall apart. Remove the bay leaves and set the split pea mixture aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion, garlic, and smoked paprika and cook over low medium low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the mushrooms and sautée until tender.

Stir in the salt, then add the split pea mixture.

Increase the heat to medium, and cook until the stew is warmed through.

Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.