Peas are a nutritious and delicious food, legume, that has been around for a long time. I will focus on the fresh, green, spring peas. They are right around the corner for us to enjoy from our garden and from the produce cooler at the Co-op.

Fresh green peas are one of my very favorite things. I prefer to sit in the garden and eat them right there, as is. Once picked, peas sugar content begins the transition to starch. This makes the amazing pea flavor fade. My advice, sit in the garden and eat them. Edible pod peas have the advantage of the protective pod saving their flavor longer.

Peas, like corn, as often called vegetables. Peas are legumes. Corn is a grain. But let’s get back to peas. Peas are a cooling and grounding food and support the health of the liver, stomach, spleen, and pancreas. Honestly, peas are a whole food and whole foods support every cell in the body to be healthy and whole. Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and other systems of natural health and healing, classify foods based upon their energetics and how the food impacts individual’s constitutions.

Green peas, the legume that they are, make them higher in protein than other plant-based foods. Peas are high in vitamins A, B, and C. They are high in minerals: iron, magnesium (if magnesium is abundant in the soil they are grown in), potassium, calcium, and some trace minerals.

Green peas also boast healthy amounts of fiber. Fiber is helpful in keeping the body cleaned out preventing constipation in the colon. Fiber provided needed food for healthy gut microbes keeping our gut microbiome balanced and heath promoting for digestion, immune function, nervous system – mood health, and many other microbial balanced functions. Dive into gut microbiome health and discover its connection to our ability to thrive.

Fun Fact: pea sprouts are excellent and very nourishing food as well. Use them in salads, soups, stir fries, and sandwiches. Pea sprouts can be grown just for this purpose so you aren’t thinning out the garden full grown pea possibilities.

Buttery Peas and Potatoes

Ingredients needed:

• Potatoes
• Peas
• Green onions
• Garlic or garlic scapes

Cook enough potatoes to feed the people gathering at your table. I cook them to the consistency I would for a potato salad so they don’t go to mush when I cut them up.

Gather your fresh peas from the garden, the Co-op, or the farmer’s market. I like 1 cup of peas for every 2-4 people eating.

Cut up the hot potatoes into large but bite size cubes. Keep them hot.

Add butter to your liking. I prefer more butter than not.

Add shelled raw peas, chopped green onions, and chopped garlic scapes or crushed cloves of garlic.

Gently stir potatoes to coat with melted butter and blend in the fresh, raw green goodness of the peas, onions, and garlic.

More ways to enjoy green peas fresh and raw:

• Add to raw green salads
• Add to mayonnaise based potato salads (recipe for homemade olive oil mayonnaise)
• Add to lamb or chicken curry: very tasty in a coconut milk curry and the raw green peas add a light crunch
• Blend into hummus or Baba ghanoush for a fresh green taste
• Sprinkle on nut butter sandwiches: almond butter, tahini, etc.
• Sprinkle on grilled cheese sandwiches, after grilling. Peel apart the bread & sprinkle to preserve the fresh rawness.