Soup to Spring For - Green Pea With Mint

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With Spring finally here, you must try this amazingly tasty green pea soup with mint. Green peas are bursting with nutrients, providing a good amount of vitamins, minerals, protein and fibre. They are a good source of folic acid and vitamin B6, which helps to maintain bone and cardiovascular healthy (among other things).

Go solo with a large bowl, or pair it with simple green salad for lunch. Link to the video below.

Ingredients

1 tbsp canola oil
2 leaks, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1 L of vegetable stock
2 L of water
4 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1 tsp of dried thyme)
4 cups of frozen peas
Fresh mint leaves

1. Heat canola oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add leeks and celery and cook for about 10 minutes until tender.

2. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Then, add split peas, water, stock and thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until split peas are tender (about 1 hour).

3. Meanwhile, bring a medium-sized pot of salted water to a boil. Then, add frozen peas and cook for about a minute. Drain and rinse the peas in cold water (this will intensify the green colour and stop them from cooking), set aside 1 cup of peas to garnish and add the remaining peas to the cooked soup.

4. Puree the soup in with a hand blender and garnish with the reserved peas and chopped mint.

Makes 8 servings.