Pea and Almond Soup by bookseller

Chops three large carrots, two large onions, and a couple cloves of garlic, and sweat them in 3 T olive oil until soft and light gold. ("Sweat" meaning over very low heat, not shooting for browning.) While the veggies are softening, top and tail a pound of green beans, and half a pound of sugar snap peas. When the onions and friends are soft, add in the beans and peas, stir around to mix them with the rest of the kids in the pool, and let it all meld together over medium heat for about five minutes.

Pour in a quart of chicken broth, cover the pot, and let it simmer away over low heat for about 30 minutes. Somewhere in that 30-minute period, measure out 1 cup or 4 oz. (by weight) of almond meal (you can get it at the health-food store or at Whole Foods; Bob's Red Mill is a very reliable, nationally distributed brand -- it's just finely ground blanched almonds, might also be called almond flour). Pour it into a small non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat, and stir constantly for about 2 minutes, as the almond meal toasts, gets darker, and starts to smell good. Once it has definitely taken on a toasted color (it may not be an even color -- some bits will be darker than others), pour it into a bowl or onto a plate, so it stops cooking.

When the beans et al. have been cooking for 30 minutes, taste the broth for seasoning. I wound up adding a fair amount of salt, some black pepper, and the juice of a lemon. Stir in the toasted almond flour, turn off the heat, and let the mixture cool down a bit. Blend it with a stick-blender or in batches in a regular blender. Should make about 6 cups.

The astonishing thing, for me, is that it not only looks like pea soup -- which I love, but have to steer clear of, mostly -- but it tastes very much like it. Adding the lemon juice actually took it in a different direction, but without that addition, and with a little chopped ham or smoked turkey, it would do a really good pea soup imitation. And the almond meal gives it the body that makes it feel like a meal. Pretty cool.