It’s so cold!! With the temperatures dropping below freezing on a daily basis, it feels like we are living in a refrigerator – with our very own built in ice maker! When the weather outside is frigid, we just want something that will warm our insides…and we want it NOW!! Soup! Warm, soothing, filling, hearty soup. With some crunchy croutons on top. It wouldn’t hurt if it was pretty to look at too. Something to keep our minds off the bone chilling cold, and coax us into taking off one of our thermal layers so we don’t look like walking snowmen!
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| Mmmmm….hot soup! |
Last winter my friend (hi Fran!) stopped by to drop off one of her most outstanding loaves of whole wheat bread, and to schmooze a little. I showed her a recipe that I had found in a magazine for pea soup. I loved the fact that it had only a few ingredients and seemed pretty easy to make. We decided to check my freezer to see if I had the peas, but alas – no peas…only a frozen peas-and-carrots blend. Undaunted, we warmed the vegetables in the microwave and after making the soup base had a terrifically fun time blending the soup with one of my favorite gadgets – Mr. Immersion Blender (not to be confused with Mrs. Immersion Blender who is pareve and green). It was warm and excellent and Fran took a few containers home with her for her family (to eat with some of her superb bread).
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| They call me “MR. Immersion Blender!” |
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| Really?…SO Silly!! |
Hearty Vegetable Soup
Description
Filled with colorful peas and carrots, this is a hearty dinner soup. You can save the leftovers for a terrific lunch the next day.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 10 scallions, thinly sliced
- 32 ounces frozen peas-and-carrots blend, defrosted and divided
- 5 cups water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- croutons (optional)
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large 6-8 quart stock pot.
- Add chopped scallions and sauté 6-8 minutes until soft.
- Add water and salt and bring to a boil.
- Reserve 2 cups of the peas-and-carrots blend and set aside.
- Add the remaining peas-and-carrots and the salt to the pot and return to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for an additional 10 minutes until the vegetables are heated through and soft.
- Remove from heat.
- Using an immersion blender*, blend soup until smooth.
- Add reserved 2 cups of peas-and-carrots to the pot.
- Stir to combine.
- Serve hot sprinkled with croutons.
- Delicious and heartwarming!
Notes
*Notes
- 1. If you don’t have an immersion blender you can bledn the soup in batches in a regular blender or a food processor.
- 2. I strongly recommend using butter for this recipe rather than a substitute. The little bit of butter in this recipe packs a lot of flavor!!
Sharon, I made this and it is DELICIOUS!! Thanks!
Juli Bell