Hola!
Today I bring you a simple recipe: broccoli and mint soup. It’s your classic mint pea soup, but with added cruciferous vegetables (broccoli). If you don’t like peas, get out of here. But if you do, the creaminess and the pea flavour combined with mint elevates this soup to the next level. All green goodness, easy and quick. Feeds the family or yourself for a week. Suitable for batch cooking or freezing.
HEALTHIFY YOURSELF!
Being vegan can be challenging for nutrition. We all know that vegans are deficient in protein… Just kidding because I’m going to debunk the myth. Peas are actually legumes, so they are high in protein. Therefore, it is per se a satisfying meal. But cruciferous vegetables (Brussels sprouts, bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, radish, etc.) are important for vegans because they are sulphur-rich, and we need sulphur on our diet, which omnis get from animal foods. Also, because of sulforaphane. These are the reasons why you should include cruciferous vegetables in your meals every week. I always try to do that, and because I think in colours, I though that this pea soup could use some broccoli. It fits the brief: it’s green, it’s a cruciferous vegetable and it will dilute down the high amount of protein from the peas. And to get the most of it, we need to cook it lightly so that it keeps its vitamins. Any more greens? Throw in there some parsley and mint for even more nutritional value.
BROCCOLI AND MINT PEA SOUP
Serves: 5-6 people
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 broccoli head
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
30g fresh parsley, chopped
30g fresh mint, leaves only
900g frozen peas
6 cups of vegetable stock (1.5 litres)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Chop the broccoli into florets, peel the stem and cut it in slices. Set aside for 40 minutes to let the sulforaphane form.
- Spray some olive oil onto a big saucepan at a medium heat and fry the onion until softened. Season with salt and pepper. Spray oil in the middle, add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes.
- Add the chopped parsley, mint leaves, peas, broccoli and vegetable stock and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer covered for 5-10 minutes. Add more vegetable stock if you like it runnier, or less stock if you want it thicker. You can blend it all, like I did, or you could blend most of it and leave some whole to mix in.
You can keep it in the fridge for a week, which is great for batch cooking. You can also freeze it.
Bon profit!