Pea and Mint Soup

Ok.  If you're looking for a soup where you read the name and it sounds lovely and inviting, this isn't it.

And, if you're looking for a soup that isn't a serious color of green when it's ready, this probably isn't the one you want, either.

However, it's serious goodness in a bowl.

Honestly.  Mr. Meat-eater loved it and so did picky young man.

They ate it for dinner last night.

And lunch today.

And for dinner again.

For me, any meal that's a hit for several meals in a row is a keeper.  We will be making this again.

I love that it's heavy enough to warm us up on snowy days like this one, but the flavor is light and fresh enough, I could see us making this in the spring, too.

Here is the recipe (and like any good, experienced blogger, I took absolutely NO pictures...sigh...)  A friend passed it on to me after I was oohing and aahing over eating it at her house.  I couldn't find anything like it online, and that is too bad because people are missing out!

Try it--I promise you won't be sorry.

And for the record, I tend to use recipes loosely.  Cooking is supposed to be enjoyable, and I don't stress about the details so most of my recipes can be adjusted as needed!

Pea and Mint Soup

Ingredients:
3 T butter
4 stalks celery, cleaned and diced
1 medium sweet onion, diced
6 medium potatoes, peeled and chunked
2 c stock
2 c water
2 bags frozen peas
fresh mint, chopped
1 can coconut milk

Ingredient notes:

• When you chop the celery, keep the leaves in there--they give lots of good flavor.
• I had red potatoes on hand, so I probably used about 10 of those.
• I know that "chunked" is not a type of cut, but it can best be described by sort of coarsely cutting.  Doesn't need to be super small and doesn't need to be uniform and pretty.  See? Chunked.
• Veggie or chicken stock is probably best, but I had beef stock on hand, and that worked just fine and didn't hurt the flavor at all.
• I like fresh mint and used it liberally, but if you can't find it (or don't want to pay for it during the winter), dried mint works just as well--use about 2 T dried instead.
• Thanks to my helpful friends, I learned that there is coconut milk to drink and coconut milk to cook with.  I used "Taste of Thai" brand found in a regular can in the ethnic food section in our grocery stores.

Directions:

• In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat.  Add in celery and onion and turn up to medium high.  Cook until veggies get some color on them and are soft.
• Add potatoes to the pot and about 2 cups of broth.  Add water until it covers the potatoes.  Turn the stove to high until the soup boils, then immediately back down to a medium low.  Let it cook until the potatoes are soft, but not mushy, about 15 minutes.
• After potatoes are soft, add in frozen peas and cook until they soften, about 10 minutes.
• Add fresh mint and coconut milk.
• Finally, use your fancy new immersion blender that you got for Christmas (or a food processor or blender, in batches) to mix the whole thing up--you want it almost smooth in texture.
• Let it simmer as long as you like on low (be careful to keep it low with the coconut milk in it) and break off some pieces of good, thick bread to dip in it.

Enjoy!!