Starter: Mange tout soup with mint and creme fraiche
(Translation for the americans - sugar snap pea soup with mint and sour cream)
Andy and I went to costco a few weeks ago and accidentally purchased more mange tout that one could possibly use. We brainstormed about how we could serve them. And other than 'steamed and buttered' or 'basic stir fry' we were at a loss.
A quick search of the internet didn't seem to help with the brainstorm exercise. Though i did learn that mange tout is a relatively new vegetable as these things go. And it's french for 'the whole lot' because they had to train people that they could eat the whole thing, the peas and the pod it came in. Mange tout is close to sugar snap peas, though it seems to me that the peas are smaller than the sugar snaps i remember eating off the plants of my mom's garden when i was a kid.
Anyhow, with something like 4 cups of mange tout leftover and about to go bad i said to myself: "they're just peas, right, so i can make pea soup." And i had some fresh mint, so what the hell. I made a basic soup base - sauteing onions and garlic in a bit of butter, adding some chicken broth (i use knorr cubes when i'm out of penzeys) and then adding chopped mange tout. I put all of that in the blender and added the mint leaves before giving it a whirrrrrrrrrrr. I added salt and pepper and some agave syrup to sweeten it a bit. And i threw in some creme fraiche to mellow it out.
Andy read recently that blended soups are very good for those on a diet. Apparently something about the suspension of food in water means it stays in the stomach longer. So you feel full longer. I'm sure the scientists out there will be pondering this. All i know is blended soups make it easier to eat your vegetables, are quick to reheat when you come home starving and allow you to take a pause halfway through your meal. I prep the main course while the soup is (re)heating and then we eat soup, and then we start cooking the rest of dinner in a much less frenzied panic with a little something in the stomach.
Weightwatchers point values: per 3 ladle full serving: 2 points
Mange Tout means "Eat everything"
ReplyDeleteI was trying to think about why a Brit would eat "mange" (the dog disease), but now I get it. It's french.
ReplyDeleteSounds yummy. I need to think about how to make a soup from pea shoots and/or kale. Too much arrived in the CSA basket this week.
I found a recipe for garlic pickled sugar snap peas recently, but somehow I'm thinking that you're not a big pickle fan... :)
ReplyDeleteKatie C - pea shouts and kale kinda scream pasta fagioli to me - which i would never eat because i don't like beans - but my mom used to make with kale. Pea shoots i just eat like lettuce, but you can also throw them in a bit of water for like 30 seconds with some peas and mint and then throw that in the blender.
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