Recipe

April 26, 2015

April Bloomfield’s Snap Pea Salad Recipe

Recipe: April Bloomfield

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A simple salad from April Bloomfield’s A Girl and Her Greens. “I leave snap peas raw and accentuate their flavour with little more than a lemony dressing and mint. If you’d like, you could add some creamy goat cheese in dollops or good old burrata alongside.”

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. sugar snap peas, trimmed and strings removed*
  • A five-finger pinch of mint leaves (preferably black mint), roughly chopped at the last minute
  • 1/4 cup Simple Lemon Dressing (see below)
  • Maldon or another flaky sea salt
  • Lemon juice
  • A large handful of delicate, peppery arugula

Simple Lemon Dressing

  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 3/4 tsp Maldon or another flakey sea salt

* If you wish to remove the maximum string from your snap peas, try this: With one hand, hold a snap pea so the concave side is facing you and the stem end is facing down. With the other, use a small, sharp knife to cut just below the very tip of the pea and pull toward you, removing the string in the process. Rotate the pea so the stem end is facing up and the concave side is facing away from you. Now cut just below the tip of the pea and pull toward you, removing the string along the spine of the pea. This goes quite quickly once you get the hang of it, and you never have to worry about a stringy bit mucking up a good bite.

Directions

Yield: Serves 4

  1. So long as you find the right snap peas, you’ll have a smashing salad. But I find that putting your knife to them adds even more excitement, a little textural variation and attractiveness. Accordingly, run the tip of your knife along the spine of some of the larger pods, open them like a book to expose the peas, and gently pull to separate the two sides of the pod. Slice others diagonally in half or thirds. Keep small ones whole.
  2. Combine the peas and mint in a large bowl. Pour in the dressing and toss gently but well. Season to taste with more salt and lemon, if you’d like. Add the arugula to the bowl and toss gently to coat the leaves in the dressing without bruising them. Arrange it all prettily on a platter and serve straightaway.

Simple Lemon Dressing

  1. Combine the ingredients in a container with a tight-fitting lid and shake well until the mixture looks creamy. Taste and add a little more oil, lemon or salt, if you’d like. Set it aside until you’re ready to use it and shake again just before you do.

Reprinted with permission from April Bloomfield’s A Girl and Her Greens (2015 Harper Collins Canada).

 

Photographer:

David Loftus

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