Sweet Minted Pea Soup

(Photo: Kathryn Budig)

Yoga star Kathryn Budig is known for her crazy flexibility and superhuman strength, but her skills extend beyond the yoga mat — all the way to the kitchen. Below, she shares her recipe for sweet pea soup.

I just returned from the frozen tundra of NYC to my normally warm southern home of Charleston, only to discover that it’s just as nippy. I’m on a quest to stay warm and decided after a good hot and sweaty yoga class that soup was on the menu for lunch. My husband is a self-proclaimed pea addict, so I thought I’d make a more refreshing take on regular pea soup by the bright additions of Meyer lemon and fresh mint. I blinked my eyes and his bowl was empty. Good sign.

It took some serious self-restraint to not eat my soup on my chest like a sea otter in my toasty bathtub. Good news is—sweet minted pea soup is warming AND delicious, so I hope it brings some joy into your home no matter what climate you’re in.

Ingredients:

-1 bag frozen sweet peas (10 oz)
-1 sweet onion, roughly chopped
-2 cloves garlic, chopped
-4 cups veggie broth
-1 cup coconut milk (ideally the solid part)
-1 Meyer lemon, zest of whole lemon, juice of half
-2 T mint leaves
-2 T grass-fed butter (you can substitute olive oil or coconut oil here)
-pinch red pepper flakes
-sea salt and fresh black pepper to taste
-extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Directions:

Melt 1 T of butter (or oil) in a large, deep sauce pan on medium heat. Sauté onions, garlic and red pepper flakes with salt and pepper to taste for roughly 5-8 minutes or until the onions soften. Mix in frozen peas with 4 cups of broth and let cook for 3 minutes or until the peas have thawed. Remove from heat and transfer contents adding mint leaves to a high speed blender (my heart is with Vitamix), and blend on high for 30 seconds or until smooth. Return the blended contents to your sauce pan and bring back to a low heat. Add lemon juice, zest, coconut milk and final T of butter (or oil). Mix until everything is combined and then transfer to serving bowls. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, fresh cracked pepper and mint leaves. Enjoy!

Kathryn Budig is a renowned yoga instructor and the founder of AIM TRUE.

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