If you ask a Southerner what their favorite vegetable is, you might be shocked at some of the answers – potatoes, corn, macaroni & cheese, and dumplings – all thanks to blue plate specials and meat & threes which are ubiquitous across the states. Last night I mentioned to David that I’d like to make a pea salad for dinner. He gave me that look that I often get when I say the “s” word. I revealed that it was a salad containing no kale or tomatoes, and his manner softened.
In the South when you say peas, we envision field peas (zipper, crowder, cream, black-eye, pink-eye), but one variety stands out, Lady Peas. It just sounds like a title given to a Southern Belle, doesn’t it? Traditionally Southern Pea Salad is made with English (garden) peas loaded with mayo, sour cream, cheddar cheese and bacon. All this is an attempt to make that other kind of pea palpable to our taste buds.
I spent the early part of my 20s unlearning many things that were imprinted into me at a young age. Not just nutrition, like starches, are not considered vegetables in other parts of the world, but colloquialisms, too. Idioms like fixin’, over yonder and hankerin’, were words that I tried hard to not repeat in front of peers. But what I have learned recently, is that to be Southern is a birthright of which I am proud. While I may have swapped some of my vocabulary and food choices over the last decade or so, I still own a deep fryer and start every salutation with “Hey!”
Even with all the cooking, I’ve been doing, my husband swears he has lost weight, but it turns out, it wasn’t really missing after all. I recently found it attached to my backside, and it appears I have been sitting on it the whole time. Apparently, I misunderstood the Mayo Clinic Diet. I thought it meant you were supposed to add Duke’s to everything, which I have. Tonight, I am going to give English peas a chance, a healthier way. But Dang-It, I’m keeping the bacon.
Peas out!
Spring Pea Salad
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup Peas, thawed if frozen
- 1/4 small red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 5 radishes, thinly sliced
- 5 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup freshly chopped parsley
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
- 5 strips bacon, cut into 1" pieces
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta
INSTRUCTIONS
- 1. In a large bowl, toss peas, cabbage, radishes, green onions, parsley, and salt together.
- 2. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until crispy, 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon from pan and place on a paper towel-lined plate.
- 3. Return skillet to heat and add shallots and garlic. Cook until shallots are soft, 5 minutes. Add red wine, then whisk in mustard. Season with red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.
- 4. Pour warm dressing over pea mixture and top with bacon and feta before serving.
