Super Springy Green Soup

I never got the appeal of pea soup. Maybe it was because I first saw Linda Blair do her pea soup thing before I was going to grade school for a full day, but it never appealed to me. It was chalky and didn’t taste good. I had a good friend who loved it, especially with ham in it,  and one day, 3 or 4 years ago, I decided to try to make a pea soup that I could not only stomach, but enjoy. Then I read something, a recipe unrelated to pureed soups, where someone swapped out peas with edamame. It occurred to me that edamame might make a pea soup bright. I am no recipe genius, but for a long time I was single, overworked, and made a lot of meals that were thrown together with things on hand that would last. It was in this vein that this springy soup was born. Now that the weather is getting better, I decided to find it, to hopefully soon make it, and, hell, why not share it.

INGREDIENTS

1 16 oz package frozen peas
3 cups chopped onions
3 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup carrots chopped into 1-inch rounds
1/4 cup shelled edamame
1/4 cup chopped dill
1 lemon
pinch salt
5 slices hickory smoked tofurky, chopped

DIRECTIONS

Run hot water over bag of peas for 2 minutes, set aside.

Chop onions, and sautee for a few minutes in the bottom of a heavy pot, using a little bit of spray-oil. Do not brown.

Add broth, stir, and cover, bringing to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes covered.

Add carrot rounds and cook for another 10 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, pull out carrot pieces and put aside. Onions should be mushy at this point. if not, cook a little more.

Remove from heat. Add peas, stir, and cover for 3 minutes. It is important that the pot be on a cold burner at this point, to keep the peas bright green.

pour into blender, in small batches if needed, and blend. You don’t want it to be perfectly smooth, it benefits from a little texture.

pour back into pot. Add the juice of one lemon. More if you want. Add the chopped dill, shelled edamame, and carrots. Stir. Add salt to taste.

Serve with a sprig of dill and 1 chopped slice of tofurkey added at the last minute. You may also put a dollup of non-dairy (or dairy, if you don’t care) sour cream for extra taste and calories.

Serving Size: makes 5 1-cup servings

Number of Servings: 5

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