Spring Pea & Apple Salad – SO refreshing!
This is a quirky little salad that I thought you should have in case you are looking for something new, interesting, easy, and VERY tasty to add to your Easter brunch or dinner this weekend.
My harpist friend Roz and I were exchanging chicken thigh recipes the other day and she sent me this recipe as a bonus. Roz mentioned that it goes well with lamb but having had it last night, I would say it goes well with EVERYTHING!
Remember those old fashioned Waldorf Salads of fruit and nuts in a thick mayonnaise dressing? This salad is similar in flavor but so much lighter and more refreshing.
Here’s what you need:
Frozen Peas, Granny Smith Apple, Firm Red Apple (I have a Fuji but pick your favorite), Lime, Mayonnaise, and Fresh Mint.
Click here for a Spring Pea & Apple Salad Shopping List
You need one box or 10 ounces of frozen peas. The original recipe calls for baby or petite peas but I had plain old regular peas in the freezer so that’s what I used.
Run the peas very quickly under cold water to just begin thawing them. No need to thaw all the way. Drain and place them in a mixing bowl.
Core and cut the apples into small, bite sized pieces. The recipe said to peel the apples, but I left the peel on for more color, texture, and nutrients.
Add the apples to the bowl with the peas.
Here is the one thing I will do differently next time: You’ll see in the pictures that I added the lime and mayo right to the bowl of fruit. You can do that, but you have to be VERY gentle stirring it together so you don’t mangle the peas.
Next time I will mix the juice of 1 lime and 2 Tablespoons of mayonnaise in a small bowl. Whisk them together and then pour it over the fruit. Toss gently to coat.
The juice of 1 lime helps the apples not to turn dark.
2 Tablespoons of mayonnaise. You can even use light mayo if you’d like.
Toss gently to coat.
At this point, for the best flavor put the bowl in the refrigerator so the flavors can blend together. The recipe says to chill for a hour or more although mine chilled for only about 25 minutes and was still very good.
Right before you are ready to serve, remove the leaves from several stems of fresh mint so you have about 1/3 cup.
Finely chop the mint, add it to the salad, and gently fold to combine.
If you add the mint earlier, it turns brown.
Spring Pea & Apple Salad – light, crisp, and clean.
Remember when I went all nuts over Celery Salad and then over Broccoli Slaw? Well, Spring Pea & Apple Salad is my newest craze.
Kind of funky – REALLY good!
Here’s the recipe – Adapted from Rosalind Beck
5 Responses
GOSH darn that is brilliant and I am gonna write it down…could use soy sour cream or soy yogurt instead, right?
(OK, try commenting again) LOOKs fantastic, gonna write this down! You could use soy yogurt instead of mayo, I am sure….
Gary, I think yogurt (soy, greek, or regular) would be great. Tangy!
I’m a lover of all salads…with or without fruit, but I don’t’ care for peas. I’m wondering if I can use something else here…..because the rest of it looks delish!
Absolutely! I think you could substitute all sorts of things for the peas…edamame comes to mind but if you’re not a fan of peas, that might be in the same category for you. Celery? Grapes? I might also add some walnuts next time too.