Love Your Leaves - Pea Shoots
We are all accustomed to eating peas, but increasingly the leaves of the plant are also being included in dishes in restaurants and recipes. And it’s not surprising as not only are they really tasty and juicy (with a distinctive pea flavour) but they are also very good for us.
Pea shoots are a great base for your summer salads.
According to the Pea Shoot website (yes, there really is one!) a whole 50g bag of peashoots contains only 9 calories, but also gives you more than half your recommended daily allowance of vitamin C (that’s 7 times more than the amount you get from blueberries). 100g also contain a significant amount of folic acid (8 more times than bean sprouts have!) and 4 times more vitamin A than tomatoes.
- Combining smoked chicken (or just grilled chicken breast if you haven’t got smoked), mango and pea shoots, this is a delicate but satisfying recipe http://www.peashoots.com/peashoots-mango.htm
- Mix pea shoots with pasta and pancetta for a filling salad - http://tastefoodblog.com/2013/04/02/spring-peas-and-shoots-with-pancetta-and-orecchiette-pasta-recipe/
- A great way to use leftover lamb, this spicy recipe is quick to prepare http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/thai_lamb_salad_with_26133
- Combining peas and pea shoots with pecorino cheese, this is a fresh summer salad from Jamie Oliver http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/sweet-pea-and-pecorino-salad/#heqcJOQB6VSEXX6d.97
- Finally how about this salad which combines lentils and chorizo with cous cous and pea shoots http://ww2.kqed.org/bayareabites/2009/02/12/i-heart-pea-shoots/
Next week we are looking at our last leaf in the series - chicory.