Thinned Veggie Soup

This morning I did a final round of thinning in my garden.  I always feel guilty when I thin, as if I am cheating my vegetables  - "here, grow this much and then if you are in the way of your bigger siblings, I'll uproot you!"  

Today's thinning yielded baby veggies big enough that I decided to make them into soup instead.  Boy was that a good idea!!

To the thinned carrots and beets I added two small potatoes, half an onion, some garlic, and two tablespoons each of yellow and green split peas from my pantry. 

 aren't they cute?

I diced everything up, added enough water to cover, and threw it in a small pot with some thyme, salt, and pepper.  Twenty minutes later, everything was tender. I gave it a few pulses with my hand blender to puree the veggies and thicken the broth.  

It ended up with the most wonderful color - a beautiful rich red - and the specks of the green & yellow split peas really made everything pop.  While the soup sat, I roughly chopped the beet greens and put them in the bottom of a bowl.

 

I ladled the hot soup over the greens, allowing them to sit and blanch as the soup cooled.  They turned a lovely bright green and added a wonderful texture to the mixture.  The delicate flavors of the tender veggies and the slight bite to the greens were perfect for a nice slow lunch after a morning in the garden.  It almost makes me wish I had more veggies to thin.  :)