Pass the peas, please!

Last year, we decided to start a "Square Foot Garden" in our backyard. We are no green thumbs, let me tell you, but we are learning. Many things we've attempted have failed, some have done quite well. The cucumbers, for instance, were incredible; the tomatoes, fairly easy; strawberries, really easy; eggplant, moderately successful; zucchini, surprisingly a flop!

This year we've tried some of those things again and in addition added something new: peas. To our delight, they were super low maintenance, were fun to watch grow on a daily basis, and fattened up quite nicely on their vines.

The other day, Batch #1 was picked and shucked for dinner that same evening. Ah, they were moist and succulent in their little pods, surprisingly good even raw! Once steamed, they were served plainly with butter and good quality sea salt. Nothing more was needed. Simple, yet divine!

Batch #2 was picked as well though these had been apparently left on the vine a bit too long and were a little dried out. These, I decided, would be made into soup. Coincidentally, a few days earlier on an episode of Ina Garten's "Barefoot Contessa" on the Food Channel, she made a simple pea soup that sounded good. I made it last night so I could use them up as well as the onion I had just plucked out of the ground. How bad could that be? Here, the recipe from Ina.

Pea Soup

1 leek, white part only, should total about 1 cup
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped

Place all these in a soup pot and saute for about 10 minutes. Then add:
2 cups chicken stock
1 carton frozen peas (or fresh, blanched first for a few minutes)

Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Ina added 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves, but I am not a fan of mint, so I omitted it.

Add 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper, stir.
Puree the whole thing in batches in a blender.
Test for seasoning and then enjoy!