When I think of spring, I think of this salad. Fresh, green, earthy, full of life. Luckily for us southern climates, winter tends to feel like spring most days, so I’ve had the ingredients for this salad growing in my garden all season and this recipe makes perfect use of them.
As the superstar of this salad, pea shoots are an underused salad green. Did you even know they were edible? The young shoots and tendrils of the common pea vine taste faintly of pea and are packed with more vitamin C than blueberries and more vitamin A than tomatoes.
Pea shoots can also be harvested in less than one month’s time after planting, versus the three months it takes before you can pluck a pea pod off the vine. Because of this fast turnaround, peas make an excellent container plant for small spaces as you can simply graze on the greens throughout the season, without the need for a trellis. You can grow several pea plants in a pot, merely spaced an inch apart, and give them an even “haircut” every other week before they have a chance to flower.
If you’re not growing your own peas, you can often find pea shoots at farmers’ markets or Asian markets. (They’re particularly popular in Chinese and Japanese cooking.)
To harvest your own, pull the tip of the vine toward you and slide your fingers down the shoot to the second or third set of leaves. This part of the pea shoot will be the most tender.
Pinch off the shoot just above the leaves where you see a little nub (the leaf node).
A new shoot will sprout from the leaf node within a few days. You can harvest pea shoots two or three times before leaving the vines to flower and produce pods mid-season.
I harvest my shoots from snow peas and English peas, and both are delicious. While you can stir-fry or saute the shoots just like you would any other green, I think their delicate flavor comes out best in a salad!
Pea Shoot Salad With Radish and Carrot
Makes 2 to 4 servings
Ingredients
For the Salad
5 cups packed pea shoots
1 radish (with leaves, if you have it)
1 carrot (with leaves, if you have it)
Shaved Parmesan cheese
Cracked black pepper
For the Dressing
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/8 cup white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon stone ground Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
Cracked black pepper
Making Your Pea Shoot Salad With Radish and Carrot
Wash and dry your pea shoots, radish leaves (if using) and carrot leaves (if using), and combine in a large bowl.
Thinly slice the radish; I like to use a mandoline for paper-thin slices.
Thinly slice or julienne the carrot. Add the radish slices and carrot strips to your salad.
To make the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, and a few turns of cracked black pepper.
Drizzle the vinaigrette over your salad, shave some Parmesan on top, and finish with more cracked black pepper. You can serve this as a light meal for two people, or as a starter for four!
Pea Shoot Salad With Radish and Carrot
As the superstar of this salad, pea shoots are an underused salad green.
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 5 cups packed pea shoots
- 1 radish (with leaves, if you have it)
- 1 carrot (with leaves, if you have it)
- Shaved Parmesan cheese
- Cracked black pepper
For the Dressing
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/8 cup white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon stone ground Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- Cracked black pepper
Instructions
Wash and dry your pea shoots, radish leaves (if using) and carrot leaves (if using), and combine in a large bowl.
Thinly slice the radish; I like to use a mandoline for paper-thin slices.
Thinly slice or julienne the carrot. Add the radish slices and carrot strips to your salad.
To make the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, and a few turns of cracked black pepper.
Drizzle the vinaigrette over your salad, shave some Parmesan on top, and finish with more cracked black pepper.
Notes
You can serve this as a light meal for two people, or as a starter for four!
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So glad to see you had a recipe for using pea shoots! I was at the Farmers Market today and saw them for the first time. I find myself exploring Farmers Markets in a different manner since reading your blog/book. I told my boyfriend, let’s get them, I bet Garden Betty has advice on how to use them! I’d love to see some more recipes with them in there!
Pea shoots are such a lovely spring vegetable! I usually like them fresh in a variety of salads, but they’re wonderful sauteed with garlic and shallots, and a squeeze of lemon on top! Use them in the same way you’d use spinach – their mild flavor and tender texture makes them very versatile.
Naturalyards liked this on Facebook.
This looks delicious! And so lovely to look at.
I didn’t realize that the pea shoots were edible. I have some growing in my garden now. I’ll have to give them a try. Thanks!
The entire pea plant is actually edible, so if you’ve already harvested your peas, you can use the more mature part of the vine and just saute it. Enjoy!
http://gardenbetty.com/2013/02/pea-shoot-salad-with-radish-and-carrot/
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