Fresh Pea Salad

Salads and I are poles apart. As far as I remember I have always said no to that simple plate of sliced tomatoes, onions and cucumber seasoned with salt, pepper and a dash of lemon juice, that mom used prepare every day. Since I was least interested, my knowledge about these was restricted to a very few kinds. The few kinds included the ones with the creamy dressing, like the Russian Salad, Waldorf Salad etc. But of course, I never tried making any of them at home.

For this month, The Gourmet Seven decided that we whip up some exotic salads, from 101cookbooks. It was a great experience going through the website and exploring the recipes. Salads as we know are prepared with lots of vegetables, sometimes fruits and also meat with a dressing. The dressing could be anything from a simple lemon juice, salt and pepper to a creamy mayonnaise or hung curd. They are very low in calories, high in fiber, and having a whole bowl can make for a light lunch or dinner. Keeping all this in mind, l will definitely make an attempt to have these at least once in 2 to 3 days.

I picked up this Fresh Pea Salad, for two reasons, one I was intrigued by the mint and date dressing of this salad and second, my lil one loves green peas. I am happy that my younger one likes vegetables, unlike my elder one. Fresh green peas are tossed in a minty date dressing, with the crunch of toasted melon seeds in every bite. It was totally yummy and all of us enjoyed it as a healthy snack rather than a salad. And as expected my daughter loved it.

Source: Adapted from 101Cookbooks

Serves – 2

What you’ll need

1. Fresh Green Peas – 1 Cup
2. Dates – 2
3. Fresh Mint Leaves – 1 handful (tightly packed)
4. Green chilly – 1 or more (adjust according to taste)
5. Lemon Juice – from ½ a lemon
6. Lemon Rind – few scrapings
7. Melon Seeds – A handful

Method

1. Blanch the green peas until almost done. Don’t cook until too soft. Retain some crunch.
2. Heat a Kadai and dry roast the melon seeds until they start popping. Transfer into a plate and keep aside.
3. Grind together, mint leaves, green chilly, dates, lemon juice and lemon rind until smooth.
4. Toss the green peas, 2 to 3 spoons of Mint – date dressing and the melon seeds with a touch of salt.
5. Mix well, add more dressing and adjust salt according to your taste.

Mix with the dressing just before serving.