there are some colors in nature that are so saturated i have a hard time believing they are real.
this was how i felt the entire time we were up in the north woods of wisconsin this past week.
we spent the week biking, boating, fishing, reading, and eating lots of ice cream. the colors of the sky and the trees are so incredibly blue and so incredibly green that you just stare. which we did. for four days straight.
my intent for this week’s early posts was to do something interesting with the bounty of fish we caught. unfortunately, there was no bounty. there was just a single dinner. the fish just were not interested in being caught, and i gave up easy. jason and his dad, on the other hand, spent hours every morning and every night trying to catch our dinner.
i guess you can’t win them all.
but the lack of fish didn’t make it any harder to be inspired by the north woods. i took some lessons in color home with me. unlike the brownish greens of my previous two posts (lentils and lentils), try this soup, which just by it’s color makes me want to eat it immediately.
you’ve probably had many a pea soup in your life. most people think of split pea soup immediately, with that unattractive army green color and slushy texture. this is nothing like that. it’s bright, lively, and herby. the fresher the peas, the better. you can serve it cold like the summer red pepper soup or warm it up when it’s chilly out. just enjoy the greenery.
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 5-6 celery ribs, chopped
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 4 cups fresh peas
- ¼-1/3 cup mint, chopped
- ¼ cup parsley, chopped
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- crème fraîche for serving
- Melt butter in a large pot. Add in onion and celery and cook for 7-8 minutes, until tender. Stir in vegetable broth and peas. Cook until peas are just slightly tender, about 3 minutes. Add in mint and parsley.
- Using an immersion blender or a food processor, puree the mixture until smooth.
- Add heavy cream, salt and pepper to taste. If the soup is too thick, add additional vegetable broth.
- Serve warm or let cool for 20 minutes and serve with a dollop of crème fraîche.
Recipe rephotographed April 2015.
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