Snow Peas

Season: Year-round, but best in March- early summer

Storage: do NOT store in plastic bag, store in paper bag in the fridge. Wash and dry completely before placing them into the fridge. 

Fun Facts: Snow peas have been eaten for over 5,000 years.  Unlike many of their legume cousins, the flat snow pea pod can be eaten.  They are popular in stir fries, and are also delicious raw as a fresh, healthy snack. Did you know that you can eat the whole snow pea plant? The vines and leaves are delicious and have the same flavor as the beans and pod! 

Harvest this legume when the pods are young to ensure that they are crip and not stringy. If you do not have room for this vegetable in your garden, feel free to sprout them and add them to your sandwich or salad.

Get local snow peas by joining our Farm Share or shopping at farmer’s markets, then share your favorite preparations through our Facebook page.

Flash- Fried Pea Shoots with Garlic

From Foodelicacy by Cecilia

Ingredients

  • 350 g pea shoots

  • 2 tbsp cooking oil

  • 3 – 4 cloves garlic finely chopped

  • ¾ tsp chicken seasoning powder

  • ¼ tsp salt or to taste

  • 1 ½ tbsp Chinese Shaoxing wine optional

  • 1 tbsp hot water

Instructions

  • Snip or break with your fingers, pea shoots into bite-sized segments, roughly 1-inch in length. Wash thoroughly, drain, and set aside.
  • Heat up a wok over high heat. When wok is smoking hot, add oil. When oil is very hot, add chopped garlic and fry for 10 to 15 seconds until fragrant. Add pea shoots all at once, and toss lightly for 20 seconds, then add chicken seasoning, salt, and Chinese wine (optional). Add a little hot water, if you like, (the steam generated when it hits the hot wok will help to quickly cook the pea shoots), and continue to stir fry for 1 minute, or until the shoots are slightly wilted, but still bright green.
  • Transfer to a serving plate or dish, leaving behind some, or most of the juices, if you wish. Serve immediately.

Snow Pea Soup

From Food n’ Heal by Githu

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoons basil and origan dry leaves

  • 1/2 tablespoons fennel seeds

  • 1 thumb of fresh ginger

  • 3 cloves garlic

  • 1 green banana

  • 1 tablespoon of cold olive juice

  • 2 fresh green scallions

  • 2 carrots

  • 2 dried figs

  • salt to taste

  • 3 cups of vegetable broth

  • 1 cup of radishes

  • 2 cups of frozen snow peas

  • handful of cilantro

Instructions

  • You can chop your veggies ahead or chop & dice them as you cook. For the broth, make sure it’s in room temperature.

  • In a medium size saucepan place the dry herbs and put the saucepan on medium-high heat
    While heating the herbs, peel the green banana, dice it into very small cubes,(fine brunoise) and put them in the saucepan, stir.

  • Add the olive oil and stir again.
    Let the green banana cook for about 6 minutes, keep on stirring now and then. It’s going to stick on the pan.

  • Meanwhile chop the scallions or green onions
    Add the scallions in the saucepan, stir well and cover, stir now and then for about 3 mins.

  • Batonnet the carrots (cutting the carrots lengthwise) and dice the dried figs into small pieces
    Add the carrots and the figs in the saucepan, add salt. Stir and cover for 2 mins.

  • Add the vegetable broth or water till you cover everything with water. Cover and bring to boil.
    Prepare the radishes by cutting off the extreme ends.
    Add the radishes in the saucepan, stir together and cover for a 1-2 minutes.

  • Bring the thawed snow peas in the saucepan, stir well and cut off the heat.
    Dice or grate the garlic and ginger. Add them to the snow peas.

  • Chop your fresh herbs, the fresh pepper, and add in the saucepan, stir everything together , taste to adjust the seasoning.
    Squeeze the lime and add the juice just before serving.

NOTE: “Miso is a Japanese fermented bean paste with a tangy-salty “umami” flavor. It comes in a variety of styles, the most basic being white, yellow, and red; the white is the mildest and least salty of the bunch. It can be found in the Asian foods aisle of most supermarkets.” – Cara Mangini

FIVE-MINUTE SESAME SNOW PEA RECIPE

A recipe by Sarah Cook, from Sustainable Cooks

Ingredients

  • 3 cups snow peas washed and trimmed

  • 1/2 tsp avocado oil coconut works well

  • 2 tsp soy sauce reduced sodium

  • 1 tsp sesame oil toasted

Instructions

  • Preheat your wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add coconut or avocado oil and allow to heat almost until smoking.
    Add the peas and toss to coat. Allow to sit for a minute and then stir. Repeat “stir and wait” two more times.

  • Remove from heat and add the soy sauce and sesame oil. Stir.
    Remove peas from wok and place on a plate lined with a paper towel. Let sit for two minutes.

  • Notes
    Make sure the wok and oil are both very hot before adding the veg. That will give you the perfect sear with less oil needed.

    If you use snap peas, add 1 minute of cooking time to the process.

    Peas are ready when they’re a vibrant bright color.

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