Halleluiah! Went out to tear off some lettuce for the girls and noticed the peas had podded—yay! Grabbed a handful of the first, sweet fruits of the glorious pea vines and raced to the kitchen. We were having modified Mexican but what the heck.* I was gonna make my favorite Asian-inflected pea recipe anyway. As long as you’re not counting the two months from seed to table, nothing faster!
And I’ll take a pPod over an iPod any day.
Three-Minute Peas
Fresh-picked sugar pod peas**
Sesame oil
Coarse sea salt
Red pepper flakes
Turn on broiler, not too high (our oven has a “center” setting.) Wash a big handful of new pod peas and dry in paper towel. Place in appropriately sized baking dish so that they all lie flat. Drizzle lightly with sesame oil. Sprinkle with a dash of sea salt and red pepper to taste. Broil one minute on each side. (You should start to smell that deep green smell just as you have to flip. Careful, don’t burn them!) Eat as a side or with rice or your choice of protein or just eat straight outta the dish like I did. Makes a great afternoon snack, too.
Variations:
Olive oil instead of sesame oil
Add minced ginger or garlic if you have a bit more time but really the pods are so tasty you won’t need to enhance them very much!
*Spanish rice with melted cheeses and a side of homemade avocado salad. OK, a weird combination with the peas but what are you gonna do? Peas come when peas come.
**We grow organic Oregon Sugar Pod II snow peas, $2.39, from Botanical Interests. For this recipe, cook them when they are still flat and small, about 3-4 inches.
Note: You can also buy sugar peas at the supermarket or farmers market but the longer off the vine, the less tasty they become. It’s actually super easy to grow peas, a great choice for the beginning kitchen gardener (me, two years ago.) The plants need some kind of support for the vines but they’re perfect for planters, no giant backyard necessary.
Copyright 2012, Lori Fontanes
What the Ducks! 
Congrats, we can’t wait for ours!