There’s more to peas than the ones you find in the freezer section of your grocery store.

There are snow peas, snap peas, pea greens, pea shoots, sprouted peas, pea tendrils and even pea flowers…all edible.

Today, I want to introduce you to pea shoots (if you’re not already familiar). I’ve been growing lots of pea shoots as of late. Pea shoots (also known as pea microgreens) are the young leaves and stems of traditional garden pea plants. While a pea plant can take 60 to 70 days to mature, pea shoots are harvested after just two to three weeks. They add a delicious, mild, sweet pea flavor to any salad, stir-fry, grain bowl or sandwich. 

Pea shoots are easy to grow. Nothing more than potting soil, trays and seeds (or these). I’ve found that stacking and weighing down the trays (with, for example, a brick) are essential to getting even germination. From there, unstack and water and watch them grow.

Today, I made a simple salad with all my goodies from the garden, dressed with a tangy, lemon-y, white miso, ginger dressing. Light, simple and spring-y (technically, it’s now summer; happy belated summer solstice btw).

These are what the pea shoots look like just 10 days from seeding to harvest….ready to be cut and turned into a salad for lunch.

I also sautéed a bunch of pea shoots with garlic and dressed with Sichuan chile oil, sesame oil, splash of tamari, and topped with roasted sesame seeds.

And, a simple side of blistered snow peas, cooked under the broiler (an ingenious idea I came across from Serious Eats, though they used green beans instead of snow peas). The blistered snow peas are tossed with sautéed garlic, ginger, Sichuan peppercorn, dried red chiles, scallions and fermented garlic scapes.

I spread out the snow peas on a sheet pan. Tossed lightly with olive oil and seasoned with salt. Then placed under the broiler for 8 to 10 minutes until blackened in spots.

While the snow peas were in the oven, I sautéed garlic, ginger, Sichuan peppercorn, dried red chiles, scallions and fermented garlic scapes. And then tossed it all together. It’s got a nice mouth numbing quality from the Sichuan peppercorns. Yum!

Pea Shoot Salad with White Miso Dressing

Like most salads, feel free to add more or less depending on what you like. This is what went into my salad. I didn’t weigh anything, just a handful of this and that.

Pea shoots
Fresh blanched fava beans
Fresh blanched peas
Fresh blanched snow peas
Thinly sliced breakfast radish
Mint leaves
Chive blossoms
White miso ginger dressing (recipe below)

White Miso Ginger Dressing

Makes 1 ½ cups
4 1/2 tablespoons white miso
3/4 cup olive oil
6 tablespoons lemon juice
4 1/2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, grated or crushed to a paste
1 1/2-inch piece of ginger (1 1/2 tablespoons) freshly grated ginger
1 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
pinch cayenne

In a small bowl, add all the dressing ingredients. Whisk until the miso is well-incorporated. Add a little warm water if the dressing is too thick, a tablespoon at a time.