Creamy Split Pea Soup

3 cups dried (organic, if possible) split peas, rinsed well in cold water
8 cups veggie broth (may need more)
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 cups onions, minced
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
3 stalks celery, minced
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 potato, diced (optional)
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Add onions, garlic, celery, carrots and potato to a skillet and steamfry until tender, but not browned

Place first 5 ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer, partially covered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent split peas from sticking to bottom of pot.
Add steamfried veggies to the soup pot.
Partially cover and simmer for another 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Season to taste with black pepper.
When cool, blend into a creamy consistency in a high-speed blender in batches.
Soup thickens after being refrigerated. Just add a little water ro veggie broth to the soup before warming.

Pressure Cooker Instructions:
In your electric pressure cooker, steamfry onions  with a bit of broth or water for about 5 minutes on the BROWN or SAUTÉ setting. 

Add all of the rest of the ingredients and set the pressure manually to 8 minutes with NATURAL RELEASE.

Blend ALL of the soup (in batches) in a high-speed blender (BlendTec or Vitamix) until very smooth. Serve!