Soup Is Always Comfort Food
Even as the weather warms up, soup is a great way to get in an extra serving or two of healthy, colorful veggies.
The availability of all the spring veggies as the weather starts to warm up has me craving recipes made with the season’s most flavorful vegetables. Trips to the farmers market around this time of year always leave me inspired with a million different ideas.
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The fresh taste of Spring in a bowl.
This soups uses two of my favorite spring vegetables – leeks and fresh spring peas.
If you haven’t cooked with fresh peas you’re really missing out. I would normally have a bounty of fresh peas in my garden this time of year. This year however, no such luck. We just finished up some remodeling in the back yard, so I didn’t have the opportunity to plant spring peas this year.
It get’s warm fast here in California. The Spring growing season is short. Once it starts hitting summer temperature, peas are usually done for the season. I did manage to plant some sugar snap peas. With any luck I may end up with a tiny crop from that plant. Next year I WILL be having my own fresh peas, for sure!
I must confess, I used frozen peas for this recipe.
Frozen peas made this soup so easy! I almost always have frozen peas on hand. Having an ingredient available is sometimes the only inspiration that I need.
I had thought about doing my Mom’s recipe for split pea soup. It’s really fantastic! But it seamed too warm. I wanted to find something light and fresh. The mint in this soup gives it a fresh coolness that is perfect for pairing with sunny days.
Easy and Simple.
Soup. It’s the perfect answer to every busy family’s meal time crunch.
With our family’s hectic schedule, and everyone going in different directions at different times, it can be really tricky to plan cooking and school events. Getting everyone fed a healthy dinner or pre-sport snack, can be a real challenge. I know you can relate!
I keep soup on hand because it helps me to fill in the gaps when I don’t have time to cook something up; but definitely don’t want to run through the drive-through for take out. Soup is easy to pack, easy to heat up, perfect for eating on the go, and full of fresh veggies. What more could you want in a meal?
If you need more delicious soup recipes check out some of our favorites:
Vegetable Soup with Lentils and Wild Rice
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 4 Leeks chopped (white and lighter green parts only)
- 1 tbsp Kosher Salt divided
- 6 cups Chicken Broth or Vegetable Broth
- 6 cups Uncooked Green Peas fresh or frozen
- 2 tbsp Fresh Lime Juice
- ½ cup Greek Yogurt
- 2 tbsp Fresh Mint minced (plus extra for garnish)
Instructions
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Heat butter in a large soup pot over medium heat.
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Add leeks and 1 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring frequently, until leeks are softened, about 10 minutes.
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Add broth and peas to pot; increase heat to high and bring to a boil.
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Reduce heat to low and simmer until peas are tender, about 5 minutes; stir in lime juice, yogurt, remaining 2 teaspoons salt, and mint.
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Puree soup in pot using an immersion blender (be careful not to splatter hot liquid) or puree in batches in a regular blender.
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Serve warm or chilled, garnished with mint (optional). Yields about 1 cup per serving.
