Zucchini and Green Pea Soup: Late Summer Harvest

Late Summer Harvest: Zucchini and Green Pea Soup

Last week, I picked five rather large zucchinis from my son's garden while he and his family were away on vacation. I used two right away—air frying them as a simple vegetable side dish. But the remaining three zucchini sat on the counter, quietly challenging me to do something more creative.

With the weather finally cooling down into the 60s and 70s, for the immediate time being anyway, I decided to make a batch of zucchini soup. I was tired of the vegetable zucchini recipe that I had made before, so I looked in my freezer for inspiration. I noticed a bag of frozen peas.

Raise your hand if you like pea soup and want this VERY easy recipe!!!

Instead of my usual zucchini vegetable soup recipe, I experimented with something new: a zucchini and green pea soup. I sautéed zucchini and garlic, and onions, added some broth then blended them with frozen peas to create a smooth, vibrant green base. To brighten it up, I added a big squeeze of fresh lime juice. 

I made everything in the Instant Pot (First sautéed and then set the timer for 1 minute) It was a fairly fast and easy soup that could serve 6 bowls.  ( No Instant Pot? Just make on the stove top)

I've often heard fellow bloggers talk about the never-ending supply of zucchini from their gardens and their ongoing quest for tasty recipes to use them up. Now I completely get it! In 10 days, I harvested 7-8  large zucchini from my son's garden—and that's no exaggeration. The challenge was what to make! I knew soup would call for quite a bit of zucchini, so why not? 

I like the idea of blending in some fresh mint into this soup. I bought some in the market, and I've been adding it to everything. After all, peas and mint are a classic combination—right? But it is good without it too...

I'm also deciding on maybe blending in some plant-based Greek yogurt to lighten it up a little. I tried a small amount and it tasted really good. If I do it, I'll need to add another pic for you to see.

When I'm not cooking, taking my hour walk, playing Canasta or Maj-♠🖤♢♧. I've been playing a lot of scrabble lately. Do you play? I play Words With Friends and Wordle.  

Ingredients: 

2 cloves fresh garlic, minced 

2 cups of sliced onion

7 cups of chopped/sliced zucchini 

4 cups of vegetable broth 

2 cups water

2 and 1/2 cups of frozen peas (no need to thaw)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Juice of half a fresh lime

Optional: 4 fresh mint leaves.

Directions: 

Add garlic and onions and 1/4 cup of water to the liner of the Instant Pot. Turn on the sauté function and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Add the zucchini, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and freshly cracked pepper. Stir to mix together and continue to sauté for an additional 5-7 minutes, stirring and adding a little additional water to prevent burning if needed. Add frozen peas, vegetable broth and the 2 cups of water. Turn off the sauté function and set to pressure cook for 1 minute. Turn off the machine and follow the manufacturer's directions to release the steam. When all steam is released, open the lid ( if using mint, add it now) and using an immersion blender, carefully blend the soup. Squeeze in the fresh lime. 

My Notes: 

All of my recipes are gluten-free, oil-free, and vegan ( after 2021)

• 1. The soup is a nice bright green. 

• 2. Zucchini recipes from season's past- 

• Zoodles and Purple Cabbage, 

• Zucchini with lemon and dried mint, 

•  Zucchini and Summer Corn Lime Soup

•  Zucchini Noodle Soup

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Zoodles are zucchini spiraled to look like noodles