Craving a light, refreshing salad that bursts with flavour? Look no further than a Pea Shoot Salad recipe! This vibrant dish is more than just a side; it's quickly becoming our go-to for its versatility and simplicity. Ready in just 5 minutes, it pairs beautifully with any main course and packs a powerful punch of vitamins A and C. Plus, you can enjoy it year-round by growing your own pea shoots on a sunny windowsill.
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Don't fancy raw pea shoots? Try our Stir-Fried Chinese Pea Shoot recipe instead!
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Why You Will Love This Pea Shoot Salad
This is fast becoming our favourite pea shoot recipe - so much so that we made it twice last week.
- It's a simple salad that goes well with pretty much any main course.
- A perfect way to get some vitamin C and vitamin A.
- It takes 5 minutes to make.
- You can make it all year round if you grow pea shoots on your windowsill.
What's not to love?
Pea Shoots, Pea Tendrils and Pea Sprouts: What's What?
Pea shoots and tendrils come from the same plant but differ slightly. Fresh pea shoots refer to the tender leaves of a pea plant and part of the pea shoot stem, often used in salads and stir-fries for their sweet flavour. The curly tendrils of pea plants are those spiral parts that help the plant climb. Pea sprouts, on the other hand, are just germinated seeds, including the leaves of the pea plant, and are crunchier.
We found that the terms are often used interchangeably, but to make things clear, we used young pea greens (leaves, tendrils and stems from either snap peas or snow peas) after the plants had grown to about 7cm tall. These delicate pea shoots have a similar texture to lambs lettuce, but a sweeter taste.
Ingredients and Substitutes
Here are all the salad ingredients you will need (ingredient quantities and detailed instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the page):
- edamame beans: may be replaced with sweet peas (fresh peas straight out of the pea pods work best), steamed green beans or courgette ribbons.
- fresh mint leaves: or use coriander or parsley for a different flavour profile.
- pea shoots.
- Dijon mustard.
- lemon juice: can be replaced with lime juice. You can reserve the lemon zest for garnishing the top of the salad too. If you have no zingy citrus fruit at home, try making the salad dressing with ½ the amount of white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar.
- extra virgin olive oil.
- salt & black pepper.
Variations
Find your favourite way to enjoy this simple salad, but make sure not to add ingredients that may overpower the mild pea flavour.
- Bulk out the salad with some baby spinach or rocket (arugula).
- Creamy goat cheese is a great addition.
- Toast some pine nuts until golden brown and scatter them on top.
- Add a teaspoon of sesame oil and sesame seeds to the dressing for a hint of Asian flavour.
- Crush some crunchy pistachios on top to keep the green theme.
Step-By-Step Method
1. Wash fresh pea shoots under cold water, then dry them in a salad spinner or by gently pressing a paper towel onto them to remove excess moisture.
2. Place them in a large bowl alongside edamame beans.
3. In a small jar, mix all the dressing ingredients: olive oil, mustard, lemon juice and some salt and pepper. You can learn more by going to Dijon Mustard Lemon Salad Dressing. Shake the jar vigorously for 10 seconds. (Basil Lemon Vinaigrette or Pomegranate Molasses Vinaigrette (Easy Salad Dressing) make wonderful alternatives).
4. Pour the dressing over the pea shoot salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately garnished with some lemon zest if you like!
Storage
Prepared pea shoot salad is best served freshly made. The acidity in the salad dressing will quickly make the young leaves wilt and lose their irresistible crispiness.
However, you can make the dressing up to 4 days ahead of time.
What To Serve Pea Shoot Salad With?
Our easy pea shoot salad goes well with various vegetarian, poultry and fish recipes. We particularly like it with Chicken Piccata, Panko Crusted Fish and as a side to sandwiches and wraps.
Recipe FAQs
What Peas To Use To Grow Pea Shoots?
You can grow pea shoots using pretty much any whole dried peas. We successfully used English peas, sugar peas, snow peas and green marrowfat peas. Out of all of them snow pea shoots are our favourite.
Where Can I Buy Pea Shoots?
Pea shoots (typically labelled as pea sprouts or snow pea tips) are sold in most Chinese markets or Chinese grocery stores around the country, but you are likely to find them in other Asian markets, like South East Asian or Japanese. Here in the UK, we also find snow pea shoots in farmer's markets in early summer.
More Side Salad Recipes
We love the types of salads that go with anything and everything. Kale Salad With Apples and Walnuts and Kohlrabi and Apple Salad With Walnuts are our new obsessions. Here are some of our favourite recipes for you to try next:
For more summer salad recipes, visit our article on Vibrant and Healthy Summer Salads to Beat the Heat.
Pea Shoot Salad With Lemon Dressing
Ingredients
- 200 g (1¼ cups) edamame beans
- 5 g (2 tablespoon) fresh mint roughly chopped
- 150 g (5.29 oz) pea shoots
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ lemon juice only
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Wash fresh pea shoots under cold water, then dry them in a salad spinner or by gently pressing a piece of paper towel onto them to remove excess moisture.
- Place them in a large bowl alongside edamame beans.
- In a small jar, mix all the dressing ingredients: olive oil, mustard, lemon juice and some salt and pepper. Shake the jar vigorously for 10 seconds.
- Pour the dressing over the pea shoot salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately garnished with some lemon zest if you like!
Nutrition
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