It looks like Michelle is a pea fan like me. She is a great advocate for healthy living and really looks amazing so she’s doing something right. This recipe is from her cookbook called American Grown which is geared around cooking fresh and healthy food and most of which was grown in the White House gardens. I have tweaked the recipe slightly to suit my tastes but you don’t have to, I have put an optional beside the ingredients I have added. I also used frozen petit pois as they are readily available and are sweeter and much more tender than standard peas. This is the perfect Spring salad and perfect for eating at Easter time with other salads, roast meat or fish or with my nut loaf.
Recipe
Serves 2-3.
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups of frozen petit pois thawed overnight in the fridge (they don’t need cooking, so they retain all the vitamins)
1 small shallot very finely sliced
1 small leek, cleaned and very finely sliced, white part only
Zest and juice of a medium sized lemon
¼ cup of olive oil
½ cup shredded mint leaves
1-2 teaspoons of maple syrup (optional but I prefer it sweeter)
Pea shoots (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
How:
Purée half a cup of the peas with the olive oil, maple syrup if using, lemon juice and lemon zest in a blender until smooth.
In a bowl, put in the rest of the peas with the leek, the shallots and the mint. Toss gently to combine.
Pour the pea purée over the salad and gently combine with a spoon.
Season with salt and pepper and serve. I like to decorate the salad with pea shoots but these aren’t always available and are not essential.
Last but not least, this salad would be fabulous with feta crumbled over it or shavings of pecorino or Parmesan if you are not dairy free or vegan. It is perfect picnic food and don’t forget peas are not only high in vitamin C but they are also one of the highest fibre vegetables, so they are a super food and a delicious one at that.
I shop at:
Waitrose
Sainsbury’s
Tesco
Lidl
