Green pea soup with fresh mint is a vibrantly green, silky-smooth homage to the season of rebirth. There are no spices here, so caramelizing the vegetables is a key step in developing the flavor.
Ayurvedic Insight: Peas are astringent and excellent for reducing kapha. Due to the pungent onions, leeks, scallions, garlic, and black pepper, vata types may prefer this green pea and mint soup at lunchtime, when digestion is strongest.
Excerpted from The Kripalu Kitchen by Jeremy Rock Smith with David Joachim, © 2019 by Jeremy Rock Smith. Excerpted by permission of Ballantine Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Photo at top by Brian Samuels.
The Kripalu Kitchen is available wherever books are sold
Spring Pea and Mint Soup
There are no spices here, so caramelizing the vegetables is a key step in developing the flavor of this pea and mint soup.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups chopped cleaned leeks
- 1/2 cup chopped fennel
- 1/2 cup chopped scallions (green and white parts)
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
- 5 cups fresh or frozen green peas
- 3 cups vegetable stock or water
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced spinach
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Heat a medium soup pot over medium-low heat for 2 minutes. Put in the leeks, fennel, scallions, and oil and shake the pot to coat the vegetables. Cover and cook gently until the vegetables are translucent, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Uncover, raise the heat to medium, and cook until the vegetables are lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes more. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add 4 cups of the peas and the stock, scraping the pot bottom to loosen any browned bits. Bring to a boil over high heat; then reduce the heat to low and simmer just until the peas are heated through but still bright green, about 3 minutes.
- Puree the soup with an immersion blender or in an upright blender. If using an upright blender, avoid a blowout by cooling the soup slightly and partially removing the center lid of the blender. Puree the soup until it is super smooth.
- Pour the soup back into the pot (if you used an upright blender) and stir in the remaining 1 cup peas, the spinach, mint, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Heat through and serve.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 295Trans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 0mg
Jeremy Rock Smith is the executive chef at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and a faculty member of the Food as Medicine program at the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C.
His articles and recipes have been featured in a wide range of publications, including the Food Network bog, Vegetarian Times, Yoga Journal, and Boston Magazine. Find him at Kripalu.
David Joachim has developed and edited thousands of recipes and authored or collaborated on near fifty cookbooks, including the IACP Award-winning The Science of Good Food with Andrew Schloss and many others. He is also the co-owner of Chef Salt, a line of artisan seasonings that features unrefined salts from around the world. Visit him at DaveJoachim.com.
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