Minty Pea Spring Soup
This recipe comes from my favorite cookbook du jour: Dishing up the Dirt, Simple Recipes for Cooking Through the Seasons by Andrea Bemis. If you like cooking with whole, seasonal foods – which I hope you do – this is an invaluable resource to have. All the recipes I’ve tried so far are easy, tasty, and healthy. Win, win, win. An added bonus are the intimate stories at the beginning of each chapter, endearing accounts that detail the author’s experience as half of the farm team at Tumbleweed Farm in Oregon. Honestly, the whole book is a thing of beauty.
It is about this time of year (April/May) when I start noticing mint pea soups showing up on seasonal restaurant menus. Along with fresh taste of greens, mint and peas are two of the flavors I most look forward to in spring. The bright flavors and color always make me happy. I recently made the recipe I’m posting from Andrea’s cookbook below, and last week I also ordered a pea mint soup at a farm-to-table diner in Minneapolis. That soup used a small dollop of creme fraiche instead of the coconut milk that Andrea calls for, and the chef also drizzled in a swirl of chili oil before serving to give it a nice zip. Since I don’t plan on getting tired of pea mint soup anytime soon, I’m also going to experiment a little and see if I can recreate something similar to what I tasted that day at brunch with my friend.
Spring will be here for a couple months; I’m going to make the most of it by enjoying a parade of flavors I’ve waited for all winter. This soup reminds me how sometimes the simplest foods can be the most satisfying.
Minty Pea Soup
Serves 4-6
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1 medium-sized yellow onion (or other onion), diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 cups fresh shelled peas or thawed frozen peas
1/4 cup firmly packed fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1 14-ounce can full-fat coconut milk (make sure to use full-fat coconut milk for the creamiest texture)
fine sea salt
lemon wedge
freshly ground black pepper
extra-virgin olive oil for serving
thinly sliced radishes for serving
fresh dill for serving
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium. Add the onion and garlic. Saute until the pieces are soft but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add the peas, mint, coconut milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 1/2 cups water. Bring the mixture to a low simmer, then turn off the heat. Working in batches, transfer the soup to a high-speed blender and process until smooth. Add additional water to thin if necessary. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
Serve the soup warm or at room temperature with a tiny squeeze of fresh lemon juice, a sprinkling of pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, a few radish slices, and a sprig of dill.
