I love being able to walk into the backyard and pick vegetables. I almost get giddy thinking, "how many people have the opportunity to walk into the backyard and decide what they want to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner?" It's an amazing feeling.
The other night, Jeff and I were picking all the peas as they finally hit a point of pick or toss. The pods were full and starting to fade so we picked every pod from the branches. I broke them up into categories - peel for peas and heat and eat for dinner. The smaller pods are delicious for this type of recipe, still very sweet with baby peas inside.
I looked for a few recipes online and came across this Lemony Pea Pod recipe from Martha Stewart. I scanned it briefly and thought it would be easy to make, it had lemons and garlic and that was all I remembered. I headed to the stove and tossed together what I thought was Lemony Pea Pods. It came together very quickly and before I knew it, it was a perfect side dish for our grilled sausages. The pea pods were lemony with a hint of garlic. The mint was a perfect finishing touch.
When I went back to get the recipe, I realized I was off by a bit. The measurements were wrong and I had a different, yet similar, recipe on my hands. For my cooking mistakes, the dish turned out very tasty, but you can't trust all your errors. Sometimes it works (like this one did) and sometimes it's a food disaster.
Whether picking vegetables from your garden or at the local grocer, these Lemony Garlic Pea Pods are easy and DELICIOUS!
Lemony Garlic Pea Pods
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of water
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1 lemon, cut into 8 pieces
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- 4 cups of pea pods, ends cut
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of fresh mint, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
1. In a large saute pan, over medium high heat, add water, salt and lemons.
2. Bring to a boil and add the pea pods. Boil for 2 minutes or until the pods get bright green.
3. Remove the pods, add the smashed garlic and olive oil. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until the liquid reduces to 1/3 cup.
4. Add pea pods back to the liquid, stir to incorporate. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Sprinkle with mint and serve.
Serves 4.