English Peas

I wanted to share with you a nice happy accidental discovery I had when was very tired Wednesday after work. Wednesday happens to be the only evening in the work week that Raj and I have to spend together. This means that no matter how tired I am or how much I don't feel like cooking, I need to, because it's the only day of the week I can cook for my husband and we can eat together.

Still though, being tired I decided to go simple- roasted chicken and fresh vegetables. On my way home from work I ran into the market and grabbed chicken and what I thought were sugar snap peas. When I got home I realized something was awry.

You see, sugar snap peas look like this:


While English Peas look like this:


What you can't tell from the picture is that English pea pods are also a lot bigger than the sugar snap variety. I should have known. By then I was at home and didn't feel like going out again, so I did what anyone would do and googled how to cook English peas. I found purees, soups, and salads, but I wanted something easy.

What you do is remove the peas from the shells (and mind you, a large bag full of pods yields only about a cereal bowl of peas), blanch them in boiling water for about 30 seconds, then top with butter and salt.

Oh man, these were like no peas I've ever had before. Have you ever noticed how parents buy frozen vegetables, throw them in the microwave, and then wonder why their kids don't like to eat them? Hell-OOOO! These peas were so sweet, went perfect with the butter and salt, and they pop in your mouth when you eat them! I wanted more when they were gone. So remember these are fun and easy, and to buy a lot!