Young peas offer a fresh taste of spring
With their bright green hue and the fact that they are one of the first nonleafy vegetables to be harvested in spring, peas provide a refreshing change from a winter's worth of root vegetables. The accompanying recipe triples the pea love by incorporating three kinds: sweet shelled peas, plump sugar snap peas and crunchy snow peas.
The soft sweet peas contrast harmoniously, taste and texturewise, with their snow and snap cousins, which can be cut on the diagonal for an extra-sharp look. They are simply and quickly steamed together (with the fresh or frozen shelled peas going in a minute before the others), then tossed in a light yet sumptuous, warm miso-sesame sauce that highlights the sweet-savory essence of the vegetables and adds an aromatic nuttiness.
The sauce is easy and one that I bet you'll make again and again. You just cook sliced scallion and grated ginger in some oil for a minute; add water, orange juice and rice vinegar and allow that to come to a boil; then stir in white miso paste and a dash of sesame oil. Toss the mixed peas with the warm sauce, garnish with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds, and you have an inspired side dish that goes perfectly with roasted or grilled meat, poultry or marinated tofu.
Miso paste, which is made from fermented soybeans, gives the sauce its complex sweet-savory-nutty flavor and silky texture. The paste lasts for at least several months, kept airtight in the refrigerator, so don't hesitate to pick up a container. It adds unique flavor to a whole realm of soups, sauces and dressings. And you can use it to make this lovely sauce many more times throughout the year, because it enhances a wide variety of seasonal steamed vegetables including carrots, cauliflower, zucchini and sweet potatoes.
• Ellie Krieger's newest cookbook is “You Have It Made: Delicious, Healthy, Do-Ahead Meals” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016). She blogs and offers a weekly newsletter at www.elliekrieger.com.