Give Peas a Chance

Last week, it was time to rid our refrigerator of increasingly elderly green things, namely lettuce, green beans, asparagus (not from the CSA), and the very large peapodish things pictured at center here.

Too tough to be peapods, yet too empty of peas to be shelling peas, it was unclear how (or if) these mystery vegetables could be consumed.

Now, apparent inedibility has never stopped me or Jack from trying to make something into food, particularly if guests are coming over. (Our housemates will vouch.)

Inspired by Chocolate and Zucchini's pea pod soup (which, in thrifty fashion, uses just the pods of shelling peas), I thought the peas might be reborn into a delicious light springy soup. Borrowing from recipes for asparagus soup and lettuce and pea soup, I figured I could throw in the ends of the asparagus stalks and a head of lettuce, too, thus transforming all our gnarly green inedibles into delicious soup. (Obviously nothing could go wrong with this plan.)

Jack, who had a more optimistic perspective on the peapods, believed they could be redeemed with steaming and butter sauce. I gave him the asparagus tips and the green beans to play with, too, as insurance that there would be something to feed our potluck guests.

After boiling the green things to death with some broth, I chopped up the large chunks of asparagus and peapod in the food processor, and then tried pressing the whole green mess through the food mill. Producing ... a very thin and rather lettucey green soup. (With some cream and lots of Parmesan added, it became something reminiscent of broccoli-cheddar soup.)

Jack's medley of steamed green things won the taste-off, but only because his steamed peapods went into the compost bin rather than the finished dish.

P.S. Boston Localvores has put together a comprehensive-looking 2010 farmer's market calendar.