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Spring Pea Salad- Ditch that deli counter and make your own! I promise you it takes minutes and you will love it so much more!
When I was younger I remember seeing pea salad at pitch-ins and in the deli of the grocery store. It was ominous to me like ham salad or macaroni salad. Foods that are probably quite good (when you make it yourself) but as a child they are a bit daunting because there is so much going on and it often times doesn’t look appetizing. I get that.
I try to keep this in mind when I ask my kids to eat certain things. Believe it or not my kids don’t love everything that I make but sometimes I am just craving something and I make it just for myself. More for me I say!
This pea salad was one such craving. I was trying to fill my Easter menu and I wanted a salad I could make ahead, that could sit out for about an hour and was crunchy/savory/sweet/with bacon and cheese. At first I thought about making a throw back 7 layer salad with diced hard boiled eggs- on the side. Then I realized my trifle dish was broken and long gone. Then I remembered that what I wanted was the 7 layer salad sans lettuce, similar to a pea salad. So pea salad it was!
A few tips when you make this. Use pre-cooked bacon OR bacon you have cooked at a different time. It blends better in the salad if it is cold and in my opinion when you make a salad all ingredients need to be the same cold temperature. Food safety and all. Before serving, if you notice the salad is a bit dry, add a teaspoon or two of milk and give it a stir. It just may need a bit of liquid refreshment! Lastly, I made this recipe as is but with a few changes because that’s just how I roll: I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream- both ways are great, I used thinly sliced shallots in lieu of red onions because that is what I had, I zested a lemon over the top to finish it off and I made sure to taste the dressing for seasoning before I added it to the pea mixture.
It’s just easier that way. It’s ok to add a bit of salt- you will need that balance in this recipe. As the recipe states I used semi-thawed frozen sweet peas. In the past I have used fresh spring peas that I blanched and let cool. That is my favorite way to enjoy this pea salad!
This made enough for 5-6 people having a 1/2 C portion but this is easy to double. I made some again to enjoy for lunch this week with some diced leftover ham tossed in. Dee-Lish!
