Spring Snap Pea Salad

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).