Once in a while out of nowhere I will get a craving for a particular food.  As far as I can tell there is no rhyme or reason but I always feel like it is my body speaking to me so I listen.  That was my experience a few days ago and the food I had a hankering for was peas.  Why peas?  Your guess is as good as mine.

So I set out to look for a simple and easy to make recipe as I didn’t feel like making a special trip to the grocery store.  I knew I had some frozen peas on hand and maybe I could whip up something tasty and nutiritous without a big hassle.  I came across a recipe that looked like it would meet my needs in “The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook”.  I have never made pea soup before but I was still surprised to see that the recipe called for lettuce.  Coincidentaly it was the one ingredient I did not have on hand, so I decide to substitute cabbage.  Making  a recipe more nutritious and saving a trip to the store seemed like a no brainer.  The only question would be is how it affects the taste.

Well I guess I will never know how the taste compares to using lettuce because it was so good with cabbage I believe I have found a permanent substitute.

This recipe is so easy to make, is very nutritious, and uses ingredients most people have on hand it may just become on of your favorites too.  Enjoy!

Makes 5 cups.  111 calories pewr serving (This is with the lettuce, with cabbage ???)

1/4 cup butter

4 cups shredded lettuce ( I substitued cabbage)

1/2 large onion, chopped

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

3 – 13 3/4 ounce cans chicken broth

2 -10 ounce packages frozen peas

1 cup milk ( I used hemp milk)

mint leaves for garnish (optional)

1. In 3-quart saucepan over medium heat, in hot butter, cook lettuce and onion until tender, stirring often. Add flour, sugar and coriander.  Slowly stir in broth; add peas, reserving a few for garnish; cook covered 15 minutes.

2. In covered blender container, blend mixture, a cup at a time; return it to the pan.  Add milk; reheat.  Garnish with reserved peas and mint, if you wish.