Green Soup
Ingredients
- For the cashew cream
- For the green soup
Directions
A few hours before making the green soup, toss the cashews in a bowl, pour enough very hot water over them to cover, and let soak for at least 2 hours.
When the cashews are tender, drain them and toss them in a food processor or blender along with the cold water, garlic, and lemon zest. Process until completely smooth and creamy.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the onion, and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and peas to the pan and cook until they’re bright green, about 5 minutes. Then add the stock to the pan. (The vegetables should be just barely covered with liquid. If necessary, add a little extra water to the pan.) Bring to a boil and then gently simmer until the vegetables are tender, anywhere from 4 minutes to 8 minutes. (If using frozen peas, your timing will be closer to 8 minutes.) Don’t overcook the vegetables or they’ll turn an icky shade of dull green.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the spinach, a handful at a time, and let it wilt into the soup. Let it cool for 10 minutes and then transfer to a blender or Vitamix along with half the cashew cream and process until smooth.
Pour or ladle the soup into bowls and add a swirl of the remaining cashew cream atop each bowl. If desired, sprinkle with parsley and chile.
Recipe Testers Reviews
This green soup has lovely fresh vegetable flavors and a stunning bright green color. I prepped the vegetables early in the day but didn't have time to actually cook the soup until later. This approach worked very well and I'm sure the prep could also be done the day before if necessary. Be sure not to cover the pan while cooking the vegetables and simmering the soup to ensure that the vegetables maintain a nice bright green color. My frozen peas weighed 14 ounces and measured 3 cups. The cashew cream was pretty watery and not a cream at all. I added half the "cream" to the soup, but did not use the rest as a garnish.
I was really excited about making this green soup recipe. It couldn't be any easier. The green soup part is a pretty fast process. The timing was perfect. I didn't bother adding water in addition to the vegetable stock. I used a Vitamix as I couldn't find our immersion blender. I added 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt to the cashew cream. This alone is an amazingly tasty cream to use with vegetables or as "hummus.”
This recipe made a really hearty, satisfying green soup that tasted even more green than green soup usually does. I liked that it’s thickened with the cashew cream instead of potato—it was light but still made a good meal. The addition of the green chile made it extra special. My broccoli weighed 425 g (I trimmed the stem and threw that in as well). I used a regular blender, not a food processor, for the cashew cream and it worked fine. I started blending the soup with a stick blender but then switched to using a regular blender because I don't think stick blenders do a good enough job with leafy vegetables and onions. Also, I was getting splattered with hot soup. My stock had no salt, so I added a teaspoon of fine salt and a half teaspoon of pepper. I was tempted to add salt to the cashew cream as well, but I resisted. Because I used frozen peas, it took a few minutes longer to cook the peas and broccoli.
Without the cream, the green soup just tasted like a big bowl of broccoli and spinach. But with the cream (and the added acid from the lemon zest) the soup mellowed and became bright and fresh with some fullness. Very healthy and very enjoyable. I think this would also work with regular cream as long as you still include an acid element. My head of broccoli was 181 g or 4 cups florets and my handfuls of peas weighed 144 g.
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This sounds wonderful, can’t wait to try it! Do you think it will freeze well? And given it’s now early summer, would it work to serve it chilled? (Maybe processing in some mint and basil leaves from the garden?) Thank you!
Lynn, I’m not certain it would freeze well (I worry about the texture) but I think it would be lovely chilled. And I think your suggestion for some mint or basil would be perfect with these flavors!