Place the water, cashews or avocado, and garlic into blender and blend at the highest speed until completely smooth. Add the peas, spinach, lemon juice, and mint and blend at high speed, using a pusher if your blender has one, until thick and smooth. Taste and add freshly ground black pepper, salt, and additional lemon juice, if needed. Serve cold, with lemon to squeeze into individual servings.
Notes
I like this soup cold, but it could easily be served hot. Start with defrosted peas, make the soup as directed, and then warm it gently on the stove or in the microwave until it’s the desired temperature. Also, if you have a VitaMix, you can heat it by allowing the blender to run on high for an extra 2 or 3 minutes.Variations: The cashews give this soup richness and depth of flavor, but if you want to reduce the fat, use avocado instead and subtract 25 calories and 2 grams of fat from the nutritional figures below. If you can’t have any fat, you can leave out both cashews and avocado and subtract 3 grams of fat and 39 calories, but the results won’t be as delicious.