... rich, fresh, creamy, smoky, bright, elegant ...
Local farms are awesome, and the farmers themselves are passionate as hell. It comes through in the crazy fantastic stuff they produce. Support local, babyeeee!
One of my dearest friends was kind enough to bring me some fresh pea shoots from a local sprout company.
And holy cow, these are awesome.
They have the freshest, green, pea-like flavor you’ve ever tasted.
This recent acquisition has inspired me to go full-on pea soup this week.
I love adding pea shoots to a blended pea soup; it adds a fresh pea flavor you can’t find anywhere else. Makes it taste like it came right off the vine. They are also stunning to decorate a plate or bowl with.
So, this soup is meant to have a very pure, clean pea flavor with added creaminess. But, we want some smokiness too, right? Heck yeah! So, we’ll also make a quick and easy plant-based bacon oil to drizzle on top!
This is a ‘blend & heat’ recipe, so a high-speed blender is needed to pulverize all the ingredients into a smooth texture and creamy consistency. It also means it’s super quick to make!
So, what do we need for the soup?
Frozen Peas – Cheap, tried & true, always handy in the freezer. They’re blanched and frozen at the peak of freshness, so they’re reliable in flavor and quality.
Fresh Pea Shoots – The start of the pea plant, they add an incredible off-the-vine flavor without having to de-pod a ton of fresh peas. If you have any growing locally, grab some!
Leeks – Leeks are one of my favorite soup additions, and I often trade them out for the onion in recipes. It adds allium flavor but with a far more delicate, green freshness to it. You’re good to go with a good, solid rinse to get out the sand.
Garlic – It’s in our name. We love it; we use it. Garlic is the bomb.
Cashews – Adds a neutral creaminess and makes everything come together.
Alleppo Pepper – It adds a gentle background warmth, but not a *HOT! HOT!* heat.
Okay, so what about that tasty, smoky bac'n oil?
So, we want to take those crunchy soy-based vegan bacon bits you find in the store, hydrate them with a flavor-boosting marinade, and fry them in an oil that replicates the same texture and mouthfeel of actual bacon grease.
It’s surprising how close this is, and it’s a tasty boost to this soup. The hydrating-then-frying method gives the bacon bits a super nice chewy-and-crispy texture.
So, what's in it?
Soy-based Bac’n Bits – Check their ingredients, but MOST vegetarian, crunchy, soy-based bac’n bits are vegan.
Refined Coconut Oil – Coconut oil has a high saturated-fat content, which is very similar to animal fats, so it adds that same mouthfeel. Using refined coconut oil removes the coconut flavor out of it, so it becomes more neutral. Perfect for this purpose. If you don’t have access to refined coconut oil, use canola or another neutral, high-temperature tolerant oil as a substitute. (NOTE: Olive oil has too much of its own flavor and isn’t too high-heat tolerant, so I don’t recommend it for this purpose.)
Hickory Liquid Smoke – I’ve been using Wright’s-brand liquid smoke for years. Disclosure: This is not an ad for them, I just genuinely like their stuff. 100% worth it to find, it’s the real deal and always in my pantry.
Tamari / Soy Sauce – Depth and saltiness ahoy!
Maple Syrup – Perfect liquid sweetener for that bacon-y taste.
MSG – This will help with the ‘meaty,’ fatty mouthfeel. It’s proven safe, super flavor-boosting, and vegan; however, feel free to omit if you have reactions to consuming MSG.
Ground Black Pepper – We got sweet and smoky, now for the pepper. Oh yeah.
Okay, enough chattin’, let’s get blendin’!
Soak cashews in hot water for 30-minutes, then drain.
Remove the tops & root of leek. Rinse leaves in cold water to remove any sand, then roughly chop.
Add frozen peas to a bowl of water to help defrost, then drain.
Peel garlic cloves.
Add all soup ingredients into a high-speed blender. Cover, and slowly ramp up speed to high until super smooth, tamping down well.
Add blended soup to a pot, and simmer on medium heat for 10-15 minutes, or until piping hot, stirring often.
Store in the fridge for up to 5-days.
Store in the freezer for up to 1-month.
Mix liquid smoke, black pepper, tamari/soy sauce, MSG, and bac’n bits together. Let marinate and absorb for 30-minutes or so.
(The marinade should be absorbed into the bits.)
In a small saucepan, warm refined coconut oil/canola oil in pan at medium-high heat, until it starts to barely shimmer when the oil moves.
Carefully add-in the marinated bits to the pan (they should sizzle), and cook for about 1-3 minutes, stirring constantly to keep from burning.
(You can tell they’re done when there’s no liquid apart from the oil, and the bits should be slightly darker, but not burnt.)
Remove bac’n oil from pan.
Serve spooned over piping hot soup & serve!
Store in the fridge for up to 1-month
Store in the freezer for up to 3-months.
Ingredients
Directions
Soak cashews in hot water for 30-minutes, then drain.
Remove the tops & root of leek. Rinse leaves in cold water to remove any sand, then roughly chop.
Add frozen peas to a bowl of water to help defrost, then drain.
Peel garlic cloves.
Add all soup ingredients into a high-speed blender. Cover, and slowly ramp up speed to high until super smooth, tamping down well.
Add blended soup to a pot, and simmer on medium heat for 10-15 minutes, or until piping hot, stirring often.
Store in the fridge for up to 5-days.
Store in the freezer for up to 1-month.
Mix liquid smoke, black pepper, tamari/soy sauce, MSG, and bac’n bits together. Let marinate and absorb for 30-minutes or so.
(The marinade should be absorbed into the bits.)
In a small saucepan, warm refined coconut oil/canola oil in pan at medium-high heat, until it starts to barely shimmer when the oil moves.
Carefully add-in the marinated bits to the pan (they should sizzle), and cook for about 1-3 minutes, stirring constantly to keep from burning.
(You can tell they’re done when there’s no liquid apart from the oil, and the bits should be slightly darker, but not burnt.)
Remove bac’n oil from pan.
Serve spooned over piping hot soup & serve!
Store in the fridge for up to 1-month
Store in the freezer for up to 3-months.
