The prettiest spring salad with avocado, pea shoots, chickpeas and mint dressing
PLUS, a guide to growing pea shoots, one of my favourite salad ingredients that don't require green thumbs or even a garden. And extra lovely ideas to use them.
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The sun! The sun! Like discovering a forgotten banknote in the pocket of your jeans when you’re broke, being reunited with the sun filled me with joy this week.
Liberated from my puffer jacket, I strolled - almost skipped - in sun-soused happiness to the high street on a warm-ish bright morning. After picking up some groceries, I sat and sipped a flat white coffee while sitting at an actual outside table and sunning my face like a cat.
Until that moment, I hadn’t realised how mojo-zapping the unabated grey skies and rain had been for me. It would tempting fate - ludicrous, even, in the UK - to proclaim Spring weather had finally arrived. But that sunny morning was the first time in months I’d dared look ahead to warmer times and the prospect of lighter, brighter meals and lovely salads.
When I got home I threw open the back doors, dug out my trusty plastic washing up bowl into the bottom of which I’ve jabbed lots of holes with a skewer. I filled this
two-thirds with compost, then completely covered it with a layer of dried marrow-fat peas (not before plunging my fingers into the bag a là Amelie to feel their cool knobbly-ness - I know this sounds corny but I did it).
Make sure there’s barely any space between the peas (you can buy big bags of them online). I topped the peas with another thin layer of compost, gave the whole thing a good water, and carried the bowl inside on a tray to catch any leaks. Now, all I have to do is wait for the magic to happen.
In just a couple of weeks, my washing up dish will be filled with a forest of pea shoots - juicy leaves, stalks and delicate tendrils - which I’ll regularly snip to eat and encourage further growth. I add the shoots to all sorts of dishes; they taste like green and intensely pea-ish - a fact that is simultaneously obvious and magical. Peas in leaf form blows my mind afresh every single year.
The bonus of growing your own pea shoots is they’re tricky to find in the shops, and are exceptionally tasty and versatile. Toss them in all your salads instead of those wretched bagged salad leaves, of course. But added to a risotto prima vera, they add vibrant, grassy crunch. This recipe is terrific - it doesn't specify peas in the ingredients list, so just add them (fresh or frozen) instead of or as well as broad beans. Garnish with a handful pea shoots, or fold them through.
Restaurants in Australia love pea shoots and, in season, deploy them as a garnish just like rocket (and they’re SO much nicer). This grilled pea, mint and lardo dish from Gourmet Traveller is a celebration of peas that I love the sound of. Some people like to toss them into stir fries, which is a good idea, with caveats. The youngest, most tender, intensely grassy shoots are wasted, to my mind, in the cooking pot or pan. Toss them through stir-fried veg at the very end so their flavour doesn’t spoil, or reserve just the thickest and toughest stalks for cooking (the ones that grow when the harvest is near its end).
Pea shoots are absolutely delicious in this week’s recipe, and partner beautifully with the mint dressing. But if you can’t find them, use lamb’s lettuce, watercress or baby leaves instead - at least until your first harvest. The chickpeas and avocado add nutritious substance to what are otherwise delicate ingredients. I especially love the pop of fresh peas - it’s really not a big deal to pod a few - but if you only have frozen, that’s fine. Just tip them into a strainer and pour boiling water over them – they won’t need any more cooking.
I sometimes sprinkle garlicky crumbs on top of the salad instead of sesame seeds: just flash fry some bread crumbs in olive oil until golden, adding a little crushed garlic and sea salt flakes towards the end.
May the gods of sunny weather continue to smile upon us all.