Bright emerald green and bursting with clean, fresh mint flavor, this soup is so simple and like a breath of new spring air. Serve it warm on a chilly night or icy cold as a warm weather lunch.

• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 2 scallions, trimmed and chopped
• 1 small bag of frozen baby peas
• 12 fresh mint leaves
• 3 cups of water
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 tbs Crème Fraîche stirred together with salt to taste (for garnish)

1. Heat oil in medium sized pot on medium heat.
2. Sauté scallions, seasoning with salt and pepper, stirring often for several minutes.
3. Add peas, mint, water, salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, or until peas are cooked but till bright green.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
5. Carefully transfer mixture to a blender.  Blend carefully, allowing steam to escape, stirring and scraping blender container as necessary.
6. Continue to blend until all ingredients are well pureed.  Add some additional water if necessary to thin the soup.
7. Taste for seasoning, adding additional salt and pepper to taste.
8. Serve immediately or allow cool, refrigerating and serving the next day.
9. Garnish each serving of soup with a dollop of Crème Fraîche.

Note: Be extra careful when blending hot ingredients in a blender to allow some hot air to escape while blending ingredients, by slightly moving lid to a side position or removing the center plastic part of the lid and covering with a towel so the ingredients don’t splatter.  Neglecting this step can cause a hot explosion.

Serves 4

photo by Kristi Senat