Jump to Recipe

Hey kids, we’re having peas. Come on mom, we had vegetables this week.

I pulverized them into baby food. gross and gross.

Yeah, and I added mint too. What? peas aren’t candy.

Best part. We don’t have to eat it?

No, it’s cold. Omg, give me anything but your cold pea soup.

Experts predict this hot weather we’re experiencing is just the tip of the melting iceberg for summer – global weirding they call it.

Although chilled soup is hardly al-gore-ing it, this simple go-green doesn’t take much irrigation or effort and delivers a satisfying summertime starter or ender. You’ll impress yourself, I promise – a handful of ingredients, refrigerator ready, and a good veggie fix that the kids will object to at first and then eat up.

I was inspired, no compelled, to recreate this porridge served at a small cafe within a set of fancy shops – sunglasses indoors required. The farm fresh food is humble here to make room for the big LA scene. Our waitress was kind enough to rake the recipe out of the chef for us twice because it seemed too simple to be this good. Really – peas, mint, veg stock & salt. That’s all.

Their recipe included homemade vegetable stock using only onions, carrots, celery, water – but prepared stock or broth is perfectly appropriate for our crunchtime schedules. If you’re shelling your own peas (ha!) and making your own stock, throw the shells into the stock pot. If you’re spoiled enough with freshly shelled sweet peas at our grocers and farmer’s markets, they will give you the best color and flavor, but even flash frozen packaged peas work wonders.

We enjoyed the soup as appetizer, but I’ve also pulled it out of the refrigerator for a fast veggie snack. Topped with a swirl of sour cream or plain yogurt, the serving is a nice, refreshing alternative to steamed vegetables.

Peas Out.