It’s finally starting to feel like the spring here in Indianapolis, with flowering trees and tulips, asparagus and spring peas, and that pungent smell of chives after a freshly cut lawn (chives are rampant weeds in our neighborhood!). We’re so pleased to bring you this recipe to celebrate spring from our friend Sarah Copeland, whose new vegetarian cookbook Feast caught our eye.
Not only is Sarah the most kind and genuine soul, her cookbook is brilliant, creative, and was nominated for a James Beard award. The book is packed full of luscious and beautifully-styled vegetarian meals, which are organized both seasonally and functionally (such as, meals for a crowd versus small meals, which we love). We picked a spring pea soup to highlight for you, which we knew would be fun to photograph with the chive blossom garnish.
How to find chive blossoms if you’re not growing them yourself? I ran to the Indy winter market on its last day and was lucky to find two bunches of chives with flowers from Harvestland Farm. We would recommend growing your own chives at home in a pot or in a garden, but it’s possible your nearest farmer’s market might have a bundle. Either way, this is an incredibly fun way to use the blossoms – and they end up being quite tasty! And while the soup looks a little fancy, it’s actually quite simple to put together.
Would you like a copy of Feast? We’re giving away 1 copy to one lucky winner! To enter, follow us on Instagram and leave a comment on the pea soup photograph. We’ll choose one winner at random!
The Rules: One entry per person, U.S. residents only. Commenting will close on Friday, May 9, 2014 at 9:00 pm, EST. One winner will be chosen at random and announced on Friday, May 9.
This giveaway is brought to you by Sarah Copeland and Chronicle Books.
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 thick slices whole-grain rye bread, cut into small cubes
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- Fresh chives with blossoms for garnish
- 2¾ cups vegetable stock
- 10 ounces fresh or frozen peas
- ¼ teaspoon wasabi powder or paste (optional)
- ¾ cup full-fat plain yogurt
- Finishing oil for drizzling (we used olive oil)
- Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Toss the bread cubes in the oil, turning with tongs or a heat-proof spatula to toast on all sides, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a plate to cool. (You can make these up to one day in advance; just be sure to cool completely and store in an airtight container.)
- Pull the chive blossoms from the chives and chop the green shoots.
- Heat the stock in a large soup pot over high heat until simmering. Add the peas and cook until bright green and just cooked, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and use an immersion blender or transfer the soup to a blender in batches to process until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the wasabi (if using) and season with salt and pepper. Add the yogurt and process until smooth and slightly creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Return to the pot and keep warm over a low flame until you are ready to serve.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, top with croutons, and drizzle with olive oil. Season with pepper and scatter the chopped chives and their blossoms generously over the top. Serve warm.
30 Comments
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May 5, 2014 at 8:58 amI must try to find these flowers; they are too pretty and add such sophistication to this soup.
Alex
May 7, 2014 at 9:52 amHope you can find some! Chives are easy enough to grow too — and you can get a flowery treat every year.
molly yeh
May 5, 2014 at 9:47 amCHIVES BLOSSOM?! mind = blown.
i am pretty sure we just discovered some chives growing in our front yard, but i’m not certain, and i’m afraid to try… i’ll have to call over the town botanist or whatever. maybe once they blossom i’ll compare them to your photos and give it a go.
also, yeahhhhhh rye croutons!!!!!
Alex
May 7, 2014 at 9:54 amRye croutons!!!!!
There are a lot of wild chive varieties out there. I’m sure a local master gardener will be glad to help.
Annie
May 5, 2014 at 11:11 amThese are the most beautiful photos ever!!! I love them. This looks so, so good.
Alex
May 7, 2014 at 9:55 amThanks Annie! I want to grow all sorts of edible flowers now. We’ve done nasturtium in the past, but these were too fun to play with.
Katie @ Whole Nourishment
May 5, 2014 at 11:25 amThe flavors in this soup sound so bright and fresh, and your pictures are gorgeous. Looks like a great cookbook too, and what a great idea to functionally organize the recipes that way.
Grace
May 5, 2014 at 11:26 amWow! Such gorgeous pictures to celebrate a beautiful book!
Alex
May 7, 2014 at 9:55 amThanks Grace!
cheri
May 5, 2014 at 11:28 amWhat a lovely soup and gorgeous garnish!
Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health
May 5, 2014 at 12:38 pmi havent seen peas in my market yet but its so refreshing…
Abby @ Happy Food Happy Home
May 5, 2014 at 1:15 pmThank goodness for the sunny weather this weekend right? We finally got out in the backyard to get some stuff done. And Columbus’s first Spring Farmer’s Market was this Saturday–too bad I missed it. But sleeping in was nice :)
This soup looks really good; it will have to be lunch this week! And I’m totally dreaming about what kind of rye bread grilled cheese I can make to go with. I can’t have soup without grilled cheese!
Abby
Alex
May 7, 2014 at 9:59 amThis would be great with a rye grilled cheese! We spent the weekend working in the yard as well, including planting a new tree out front! Spring has finally arrived for good :)
Amy @ Parsley In My Teeth
May 5, 2014 at 2:43 pmWow – between the color of the soup and the chives, these photos can’t be beat! Beautiful!
Tamsin | A Certain Adventure
May 5, 2014 at 4:05 pmThose chive flowers are incredible! Such an unexpected pop of colour – I didn’t know they were purple! They provide a really lovely contrast to the colour of the soup, which looks delicious :) x
Katie @ Produce on Parade
May 5, 2014 at 8:34 pmThese photographs were absolutely a joy to look at. Thank you so much for sharing!
Alex
May 7, 2014 at 10:00 amThank you!
Karen - 2Teaspoons
May 5, 2014 at 9:09 pmYour soup photos are so pretty! The pea soup looks so light and creamy and the chive flower is the perfect contrast! And I love the little oil drops – they add the perfect touch :-)
Alex
May 7, 2014 at 10:01 amThe drops were Sonja’s styling genius. Aren’t they lovely? :)
Lily (A Rhubarb Rhapsody)
May 6, 2014 at 7:39 amHow striking, beautiful contrast! I imagine it tastes sublime too. Can’t wait to try this.
Courtney @ The Fig Tree
May 6, 2014 at 9:40 pmJust stunning!!! Too pretty to eat :) Love the addition of wasabi powder. What a neat idea. Sounds wonderful.
Alex
May 7, 2014 at 10:01 amThanks Courtney! Pretty, but not too pretty to eat ;)
Elizabeth / In the Loop
May 7, 2014 at 3:50 pmYum. This looks delicious. I love Sarah Copeland’s recipes. Can’t wait to try this one!
Sally K.
May 8, 2014 at 3:03 amYou certainly do not need ham or bacon in a good pea soup, as your recipe proves. Lovely combination of seasonings! I think the rye croutons are a nice touch too! Thanks for the great recipe!
Lauren
May 8, 2014 at 10:04 amI’ve never thought about keeping the flowers on my chives as a garnish! Brilliant!
Sonja
May 8, 2014 at 11:26 amI always love a new cookbook! Working on upping my vegetarian repertoire as well!
Michelle
May 8, 2014 at 1:54 pmPicking the flowers from my mom’s sea of chives was always my job growing up. So great to have a recipe where I can use them! Thanks!
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May 9, 2014 at 11:35 amGorgeous photos! I know I’ve seen those blossoms around somewhere, but I can’t think where. The whole dish just sounds so innovative and fresh. Nicely done!
Tracey @ Salty Sweet Life
May 9, 2014 at 6:43 pmMercy! What an absolutely gorgeous dish and beautiful blog! I had no idea chives made such a pretty blossom! I can’t wait for mine to bloom now!
Style StreetStalker
May 11, 2014 at 5:32 pmYUM!!!! Fabulous pictures! oh and did i say YUM!!!!
SSSx
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