Fresh peas are one of the true delights of springtime. Crunchy, sweet and exceptionally refreshing, spring peas are an exciting and versatile vegetable to incorporate into your cooking. Although fresh peas are available year-round in most grocery stores, they are generally in season in North America from April to June. In these months, peas will be in the peak of their freshness and their deliciousness. This is the time to seek peas at a farmers market.
Often you can find fresh spring peas in salads, but they can also be very tasty in other preparations. Peas are sensational in stir-fries and other Asian dishes. Mashed peas you can turn into a topping for toast or a dip, blanched peas gently blended with cream make delicate yet deliciously refreshing pea soup and for a truly elegant springtime dish, incorporate fresh peas into a light and fragrant risotto.
Spring Pea Salad Recipe
This salad is a simple, yet elegant preparation of spring peas that highlights their beautiful natural crunch and sweet flavor. It calls for a combination of snow and sugar snap pea pods, with some frozen English peas thrown in for bulk. Sugar snap pea pods are rounded and are sweeter, whereas snow pea pods are flat and have a slightly more earthy flavor.
Lightly blanching the pea pods before shocking them immediately in ice water keeps them firm and crisp while giving them a bright green glow. A simple dressing of Greek yogurt and buttermilk clings to the peas and provides an invigorating tang while lemon zest and chopped mint keep every bite light and fresh. Sliced radishes perfectly complement the peas by providing another layer of crunch and lending an ever-so-slight spiciness to offset the peas’ sweetness. When working with fresh pea pods, be sure to remove the tough “strings” attached to the pods. To remove these strings, simply grab the small white tag at the end of the pod and pull up to rip the string off the side of the pod.
Spring Pea Salad with Radish, Mint and Buttermilk
Ingredients
- 4 ounces 114 grams snow peas pods, strings removed and cut into thirds
- 4 ounces 114 grams sugar snap pea pods, strings removed and cut into thirds
- 10- ounce 285 grams bag frozen English peas, thawed
- 6 radishes thinly shaved into circles
- 1 bunch mint chopped
- 3/4 cup 175 ml plain Greek yogurt
- 3 Tablespoons buttermilk
- zest of 2 lemons
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Prepare an ice bath: place a colander inside a large bowl of ice water.
- Place the pea pods into the boiling water. Cook for 90 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to remove the peas from the boiling water and place immediately inside the ice water. Let them sit in the ice water for 2 minutes.
- Remove the pea pods from the ice water. Place into a large bowl and toss them with the remaining ingredients. Season to taste and serve chilled.
Image: Timolina