This spring pea salad uses farm fresh peas and combines them with green onions and crunchy walnuts. It’s dressed in a yogurt-based sauce that is seasoned with za’atar, a Middle Eastern herb and spice blend.
Pea salad. We’ve had a love-hate relationship for as long as I can remember.
It has a bit to do with the pea salad I grew up with – canned or frozen peas and a mayo-based dressing. My family loved the stuff at get-togethers, but I always skipped over it in favor of macaroni or potato salad.
But spring pea salad? This I can get behind. It sounds the same, but there is a key difference.
Fresh peas.
Around here, peas start to show up at the farmstands alongside the strawberries. Yes, they are a pain to shell. Yes, it takes a bit of time. But I find the slightly crunchy, super sweet peas to be completely worth it.
For salads like these, I blanch the peas. It tames some of the sharp raw flavor, but the peas remain slightly crunchy. To do this, simply bring some water to a boil in a medium saucepan (about half full). Prepare a medium bowl half full with cold water and some ice. Add the peas to the boiling water for 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer immediately to the ice water bath. Let sit a couple minutes in the ice water and then drain.
Keeping with a crunchy theme, I added chopped walnuts to the salad and then green onion adds a nice bright touch.
I’m not opposed to mayo-based sauces, but I tend to like yogurt based sauces and dressings better. Actually, I often add a tablespoon or so of mayo to yogurt sauces to balance the tangy flavor. I had plans to do it with this one, but when I reached for the mayo in the fridge, I realized it was expired. So my point is, you can use all yogurt here like the recipe calls for, or add a tablespoon of your favorite mayo to the mix.
Za’atar seasoning has been all the rage for a while, but it took me so long to finally try it. I finally found myself in World Market one day and I decided to by a small baggie of it. It’s a blend of thyme, sesame seeds, and sumac, and you can definitely make your own. It seemed just as easy to buy the blend to keep on hand so that is what I did.
It is delicious with plain yogurt making it nutty and savory. It goes really well with the sweet peas and walnuts in this spring pea salad!
- 1 cup spring peas, blanched
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup chopped raw walnuts, toasted if desired
- 1/3 cup full-fat or 2% plain Greek yogurt
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- ½ teaspoon za’atar
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, or more or less to taste
- Place the peas in a medium bowl. Reserve a tablespoon of the onions for garnish and add the rest to the bowl with the peas. Add the walnuts and give it a stir.
- In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, garlic, za’atar, and salt. Pour the dressing into the bowl with the peas and stir well until all ingredients are covered.
- Transfer to a serving bowl or plate and garnish with the reserved green onions.
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I’ve been eating fresh peas all the time lately! I’ll have to try this salad. It sounds really delicious!
Thanks very much, Sabrina! I hope you like it. Fresh peas are definitely a new favorite for me!
Substitute the walnuts, and I am all in on this one. 😀
Oh yeah, easy swap! 🙂