If you’re ever been tasked with bringing a spring side dish to a dinner, or are looking to upgrade your typical salad at home, this spring snap pea salad with brown butter and herbs should be your go-to until summer. It’s sweet, bright and herbal yet comforting thanks to the secret ingredient: brown butter peas.
This snap pea dish is a good no lettuce vegetable salad. A blend of sweet, crisp snap peas is paired with thinly sliced peppery radishes and shaved fennel tossed with lemon and olive oil… but the real star is the brown butter. Brown butter adds a nutty flavor and the buttered peas is a warm comforting surprise with a raw spring salad. Everything is topped with fresh mint and tarragon, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Snap peas are readily available at most groceries, and if you’re a gardener, pretty easy to grow. They’re a good source of potassium, iron and fiber meaning you’ll be full and satisfied from a healthy side dish.
If you’re spring refreshing your kitchen for equal parts grilling season and vegetable prep, consider adding new cutting boards to the mix. A color coded system means you’ll always use a cutting board for a specific purpose (raw produce, meat or fish) to limit cross contamination. (Food borne illness: the least exciting part of picnic season).
As you prep this recipe, it’s best served immediately. If you happen to bring this to a dinner, store the brown buttered peas separately and lightly heat before adding to the dish (or the butter will harden).
Spring Snap Pea Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cups fresh shelled peas
- 2.5 tbsp butter
- 2 cups bias cut sugar snap peas
- .5 cups shaved fresh fennel
- .25 cups shaved radishes
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- .5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 1 tbsp fresh mint
- .5 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
- freshly ground pepper
- pinch of Maldon salt
Instructions
- Prepare a bowl with ice and water.
- Heat a few cups of water in a small pan on the stove. Bring to a boil and drop in freshly shelled peas for one to two minutes. Use a slotted spoon or sieve and remove peas, dropping into ice water.
- In a small pan on the stove over low heat, add butter and melt. Swirl pan occasionally. After several minutes, butter will begin to brown. Remove from stove and toss peas.
- Add snap peas, fennel, and radishes to a platter. Drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil.
- Add brown buttered peas.
- Top with herbs, salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
