A Springtime Sugar Snap Pea Recipe to Welcome the Season
Crisp, sweet sugar snap peas are one of the first and most exciting of the springtime vegetable bounty. After a long winter of root veggies and squash—all requiring a fair amount of prep and a long cooking time—to say that we’re thrilled to see the first snap peas at the farmers market is an understatement. Best eaten raw and as fresh-off-the-vine as possible, snap peas are as crunchy and juicy and bursting with fresh sweetness as they sound. We created this bright, sweet-tangy, crispy-crunchy salad to celebrate their natural perfection, with dates and honey to highlight their sweetness and the sharpness of fresh mint and goat cheese—in both the dressing and the salad itself—to echo their unique, satisfying snap!
Here’s What You’ll Need To Make This Shaved Snap Pea Salad
This edible celebration of sugar snap peas is a perfect example of the kind of magic that happens when we really don’t hold back. Like, not even a little. Streaks of chalky white fresh goat cheese, nutty pistachios, sweet dates and those finely sliced snap peas, all flecked with fresh mint and dressed in a creamy, chèvre-honey vinaigrette—this colorful, textural salad recipe is just everything we love on earth in one big, gorgeous bowl.
Fresh goat cheese
Olive oil
Apple cider vinegar
Honey
Sugar snap peas
Medjool dates
Pistachios
Mint leaves
Snow Peas vs Snap Peas: A Quick Explainer
You know from the name that both sugar snap peas and snow peas are peas—no tricks here! But other than that, how are they different? And how similar are they? Well:
Both snow peas and sugar snap peas are climbing peas that come into season in early spring.
Snow peas are flat and almost translucent—you can see the tiny little peas inside the pod through the skin. They’re wonderful in stir-fries—like this Garlic Butter Steak Stir-Fry!
Sugar snap peas are a hybrid between snow peas and English garden peas, and they’re a bit more substantial than snow peas. With a similar sweet flavor, you can often use these two types of pea interchangeably, but for this particular recipe, only a sugar snap pea will do! You really need that extra heft and burst of juicy crunch to make this salad work, and snow peas just don’t quite pack the same punch.
The Very Best Way to Eat Sugar Snap Peas is....
To make this beautiful, creamy, crunchy snap pea salad! Well, maybe this snap pea salad is second only to warm from the sun and straight off the vine in your own backyard, because what could possibly beat that? But when you’ve had your fill of them plain and raw, whip up this salad and enjoy their perfection all over again in a new way. This makes a hearty side for a really classic, basic dinner—try pairing it with a simple, grilled whole fish, or roast chicken—or a lovely, light lunch. Here’s how to make this shaved snap pea salad:
Prep the salad ingredients! When we say “shaved snap peas” we really mean finely-sliced. No fancy tools needed—just a good, sharp knife. Chop the dates, mint and pistachios, too.
Make the goat cheese dressing! A little food processor makes short work of this, but a good old bowl-and-whisk situation works, too. Just whip all of the salad dressing ingredients together until they are cohesive and smooth.
Put it all together! Toss the prepped salad ingredients with the dressing, and serve!
Garnish the salad with extra dates, pistachios and mint, if you’d like to really make it pretty.
Tools You’ll Need
More Spring Salad Recipes We Love
Not-Boring Salads, Please!
Sometimes we think it’s our sole mission to rewrite the whole “salads are boring” narrative. Salads can be one of the most exciting foods! And they’re usually SO easy to make. We hope you try this snap pea recipe and when you do, let us know about it, OK? Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!
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