Friday Food #18

If you’ve been following the Friday Food, you know how I LOVE going to the grocery store. One of the things I like to do while I’m there (provided I’m not in a rush) is look for a new food to try. On a recent trip to Trader Joe’s, I saw some pea shoots that were calling my name.

How had I not seen these beauties before? If you’re as unfamiliar with them as I was, they’re the immature tips of snow pea and sugar pea plants, which are plucked as the plant keeps maturing. On the package, some of the suggested uses were in salads, sautéed, or in a stir-fry. So first, we tried them in my version of sesame noodles (more about this dish in a future post):

The girls thought it was so much fun using chopsticks (which actually was Berkeley’s idea)!

Then, Berkeley and I finished off the rest of the package for lunch one day when Kendall was at school. I sautéed them in just a tiny bit of olive oil until they wilted and then put a pinch of salt and pepper on them. Delicious! They have the taste of peas but with a different texture. Berkeley wanted more and was bummed when I told her that’s all we had.

This shouldn’t surprise you, but just like the hummus page, there is also a PEA SHOOT PAGE! (And according to this website, they apparently are taking the food world by storm!) On this page you can find some great facts about pea shoots, such as:

• they have 7 times more Vitamin C than blueberries
• they have 8 times more folic acid than bean sprouts
• they have 4 times more Vitamin A than tomatoes
• you can eat an entire bowlful for just 14 calories!

As I was typing this, Berkeley was looking over my shoulder and all of a sudden got a big grin on her face when she saw the pictures I had posted. She said, “We need to buy those pea shoots again, cuz I just LOVED ‘em!” I read that they’re great for growing in a window sill, and if I had a window that got enough sun, I’d already have some sprouting! If I ever get my act together and plant a garden, these will definitely be going in there.

For a food I had never heard of before, I sure found lots of online recipes that used them. The next time I buy pea shoots, this is what I’m making!