Peas Sir, May I Have Some More?

If I was poor Oliver Twist’s headmistress I would have gladly said “Of course, let’s put some meat on those bones.” But alas, I’m not a fictional character in Dickensian London.Oh well. Since we’re on the subject of poverty it’s a time for another Cheap Ass Recipe! (Not the best segue, I know.)

Today, it’s all about one of my favorite recipes – Green Pea Soup (courtesy of Art Smith’s Back to the Table cookbook). Now, I know I gave you a soup recipe last week but hey! It’s that time of year. What can I say?

Now, this soup does have one sorta fancy ingredient – watercress. I managed to find mine at Sprouts for $1.99. Not too happy with that price, but since everything else in the recipe is cheap it’s not a painful investment.

Let’s gather our ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced (I always use a garlic crusher)
1 medium Yukon Gold potato, peeled and finely chopped
6 cups canned low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth (I use chicken)
4 cups fresh or frozen peas, rinsed under cold water (where do you find fresh? I use frozen.)
1 large bunch watercress, stemmed
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper

onion, celery, garlic and potato

rinsed frozen peas

watercress, stemmed

2 tbsps fresh lemon juice

Ok, now that we’ve got the ingredients, let’s grab a large pot and start cooking!

Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring often, until the onion is translucent (about 5 min.).

before

after

Add the garlic and cook for one minute more.

Stir in the potato, then the broth.

Bring to a boil over high heat.

Reduce the heat to low. Simmer, partially covered, until the potatoes are very tender (about 15 min.). Stir in the peas and return to a boil over high heat (about 8 min. for fresh, 5 min. for frozen).