Soup and Salad

I love fresh peas. I love any peas, but bags of fresh peas at Trader Joe's seemed like a good excuse for a simple fresh soup for dinner, along with a hearty salad.

I sautéed about 1 cup each cups of chopped onions, shallots and leeks in 2 TB of butter until the onions were soft but not colored (about 8 minutes over medium - medium low heat). Next I added in 4 cups of chicken broth and brought the pot to a boil. In went 2 16 oz bags of peas which bubbled and boiled for about 5 minutes. I puréed the soup with about 1/2 cup of loosely packed mint leaves. I had a little extra time before dinner so I passed the soup through a fine mesh strainer for a silky velvety texture. As I re-heated the soup, with a little milk stirred in, I fried up some bread cubes in olive oil with a garlic clove for crunchy croutons.

"That was delicious," James said.

Lighter dinners for easy summer nights.