Pea Recipes

If you're only familiarity with peas comes from the mushy green globules found in cans, you simply don't know enough about pea recipes. Fresh green peas, newly shelled and gently boiled, bear so little resemblance to the canned product that they might as well be different species. The fresh pea is sweet and should pop slightly when you bite into it.

Please, don't boil your fresh peas until they are the same consistency as canned ones. You might as well stick with the canned type if you're going to treat them that way.

The shelled pea, either fresh, canned or frozen, is only one way to use them in your pea recipes.

The edible peapod is a relatively recent addition to western cooking, imported from the east. The edible peapod is picked when very young, before the seeds (the peas) have become very large. The pods and the tiny peas within are sweet and crispy and should be very lightly fried just to heat through. Or you can eat them completely raw, perhaps paired with an Asian-inspired dipping sauce or salad dressing or whatever your pea recipes call for.

Dried peas or so-called 'split peas' are another option for pea recipes. Those that have matured enough to be dried have lost their sweetness and have taken on a different character. Dried ones are more starchy and filling.

Dried peas work best, of course, is in split-pea soup. This is a classic winter warmer, seasoned with ham or bacon and garnished with shredded carrots. Pair with a dark dense bread such as pumpernickel and you don't need to add anything else to make a satisfying meal with your pea recipes. .

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