Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Beans'n'shoots make for a great soup!

Finally, it feels like summer out here! The weather over the last couple of weeks has been sheer bliss - warm and sunny, clear skies ... can't help but walk around with a smile :)


So, what else is awesome right now? The bounty that is coming from my veggie patch! Everyday yields a handful of tomatoes, a slew of greens, some squashes, maybe some chard, a motley assortment of herbs, all goodness! And today, as I was puttering around the patch, fighting those damn slugs, Alice Waters came to mind. Funny how I often think of some of my favourite chefs when I'm down and dirty in the veggie patch :)

So, with Alice on my mind, I ended up grabbing a slew of pea vines - I've eaten these in salads at several restaurants, but never cooked them up, so today was going to be a first - *so* exciting! Vodka didn't quite share the excitement - I couldn't quite get him to nosh on a few leaves. He cocked his head with the "You're crazy!" look and ran off to get his ball :)


Chez Panisse Vegetables has a killer recipe for a Pea and Pea Shoot Soup - except I didn't have enough peas to make this :) So, I went with fava beans instead (sadly, frozen, but they tasted pretty good!) and decided to let the soup stay thick and smooth instead of straining it.


[I feel like I'm tainted for life - as much as I absolutely *love* fava beans, I can't think of them without remembering Hannibal Lecter's quote from Silence of the Lambs! *grrrrr* ... and no! I refuse to quote it here :) ]




Fava Beans and Pea Shoots Soup
Green is *good*!

Servings: 2

1/2 large red onion

3 cups shelled fava beans

2 handfuls pea shoots

10-12 leaves of spanish mint

4 cups of water (or 2 cups stock + 2 cups water
)
1 t olive oil
1 t ghee (clarified butter)

salt for seasoning

freshly ground pepper
grated aged cheddar for garnish


Peel and thinly slice the onion. Heat the olive oil in a pot and saute the onions till translucent.

Add the mint and saute for another minute.
Throw in the fava beans along with 2 cups of water/stock and cook partially covered, on medium, for 6-8 minutes till the beans are cooked.

Set aside a few pea shoots for garnish and toss the rest into the soup. Cook for a few more minutes till the pea shoots are wilted before taking the pot off the heat.

Once the contents have cooled a bit, puree the soup to a relatively smooth consistency - the pea vines may still remain stringy/chopped up, that's totally fine - it actually adds a neat texture to the soup.


Season with salt and a slew of freshly ground pepper!

Heat the ghee in a pan and lightly saute the leftover pea shoots till wilted.

Ladle the soup into a bowl and garnish with the crispy pea shoots and some grated aged cheddar cheese.



Opinion?

We wolfed up this soup with some toasted whole wheat pita bread - an earthy and chewy complement to the fresh, smooth soup. The fava beans lent a creamy, nutty flavour to the soup. And the pea vines made it taste really fresh - all that green goodness!


Ok, so this *has* to go to the current edition of Weekend Herb Blogging (Kalyn's brainchild) - hosted this week by Zorra from Kochtopf - thanks to both of you for starting/hosting this event!

41 comments:

Unknown said...

I've never tried fava beans... this soup looks soo good!!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

That soup looks very good! I love it's wonderful green color!

Cheers,

Rosa

sunita said...

Green is good indeed! what a lovely soup :-)

Finla said...

Delicious soup and love the colour

Pavani said...

Hey soup looks really nice and itis nutritious .thx for sharing this post

Cynthia said...

That soup looks so good that the most picky eater would want to eat it.

raaji said...

vow you have real nice recipe collection.....lovely pics that tempt me to try all these.....

Pooh said...

Great pictures, the soup is new to me!

Priyanka said...

That soup looks delicious Kay....am bookmarking it. the combination of ingredients is too good.

Divya said...

this soup is new to me...really a winderfull soup....love to pass on this award to u..http://divyazeasyrecipe.blogspot.com/2008/10/butterfly-award.html

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

This looks really good.

Anonymous said...

I don’t know on how I stumbled upon this cooking blog. All I know is that I’d better check out the archives for a good read. Ha-ha! Just droppin’ by to say hi!

http://www.technocooks.com

Salty Lass said...

Hi,

I'd like to invite you to a salt launch party. If interested, send me an email so that I can add you to the E-vite list.

Cheers,
Janna
info@secretsalts.com
www.secretsalts.com

Sagari said...

deleciouss looking soup ,love it

Anonymous said...

Your bounty is just beautiful! Wow, how fantastic to be able to cook from your veggie patch.
Great soup too,mmm....

Anonymous said...

I appreciated the photo and even your soup (i DID tried making your recipe!). IT WAS GREAT!!!!

Cynthia said...

Your soup looks creamy and comforting.

sra said...

Happy new year!

Navita (Gupta) Hakim said...

love ur place.
swing by my lil new place sometime!! wud luve to show around.:)

MrSound said...

Very created in the way you choose your ingredients for this soup. This could be a great share to be shared in Foodista.com a food and cooking encyclopedia ala wikipedia.

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow green is always healthy and yummy. Looks gr8. Nice to discover u r blog...

Anonymous said...

Looks like it's packed with nutrition. Lovely color. Great recipe! Thanks for sharing.

Varsha Vipins said...

Shilpa..First time here.u have an amazing blog..loved everything..This soup has a lovely texture and I cant wait to try it out..But doubt if Ill get the shoots here..:(

Varsha Vipins said...

Oooppsie..Did I tel "Shilpa"..sorrryyy Kaykat..:D

amna said...

been a while since i saw you around, everything okay?

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Anonymous said...

Your soup looks so good. I never have enough of soup:) Yum!

Anonymous said...

wow....refreshing and comfort..looks nutrious and yummy.

Brad Powers said...

Nice article, can't wait to use it for my family reunion this week. You should post it on Wacanai.com(http://www.wacanai.com/intro). I have got a lot of good info on that website and I have posted some of my own. I just have it linked to my home webpage. They have a good search engine and they have graphs to help you track who is reading your articles.

Dennis said...

Oh this soup looks lovely!


Dennis
http://www.witu.com

Peabody said...

I don't think I have ever had fava beans in soup. Gosh, that sounds good.

John said...

I've never tried Fava beans but this soup looks delicious!

Mythreyi Dilip said...

Should try it out soon......

ARUNA said...

That's a fantastic soup, tempting!

Nisrine@Dinners and Dreams said...

I make pea soup a lot but I like your idea of combining the peas and fava beans. It must be delicious.

Christine said...

Wow..are those squash flowers in the first photo?

Jenny said...

Very nutritious soup eh? =))

Wonder what it taste like O_O

Satellite tv on pc said...

Wonderful post. Testy soup you have presented here which is first choice of my cute youngest daughter "Ripa moni". Thanks for sharing with us. Satellite tv on pc

Erin - Dinnerware Sets said...

I love this idea. Many of these types of things go to waste in my garden, simply because I don't know how to utilize them. I'm trying out this soup!

Medifast Coupons said...

What a lovely looking soup. With the cold upon us it is time for soup.