Pea Shoot Soup

I found a recipe for Pea Shoot Broth, which I tried tonight, making substitutions for some ingredients with what I happened to have in my pantry.

Pea Shoot Broth

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot. When warm, add 1 small chopped onion and cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Then add 1 diced celery branch, and continue to cook for 3 minutes. Then add pea shoots (about 6 oz), and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes more. Then pour 6 cups cold water, and grind black pepper liberally into the broth.

Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Stop the heat and add a few leaves of Cilantro (I confess the original recipe called for Parsley, but I never seem to have any at hand) and let infuse for 10 minutes. Strain the broth through a colander into a large bowl.

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It smelled so wonderful, that I immediately made a soup. I have a lot of pea greens from the CSA, and the latest batch had quite a few miniature pea pods attached, so... Pea Soup !!

Pea Shoot Soup

Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a 3 quart pot. When warm, add 1/2 cup diced celery and 1/2 cup baby pea pods. Saute until the celery begins to brighten. Pour 3 cups of pea shoot broth into the pot, bring to a simmer. Simmer the vegetables for about 5 minutes. At the last minute, add 1 small diced tomato, 2 ozs diced tofu (or small beef or chicken slices might be nice). Simmer for another minute or two, add 1/4 tsp Chinese five spice for a little additional flavor.

Makes two medium-size bowls of delicious soup. Mmmm Mmmm

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If I were to do this again, I might try grated ginger, cinnamon and cardamom simmered with the vegetables in place of the five spice.

More about Pea Shoots: http://www.peashoots.com/