Fresh Salad for Late Spring/Early Summer with Peas, Radishes, & Cherry Tomatoes with a Lime-Basil Dressing

Someone I know who used to garden quite a lot but who now buys the majority of their food at huge chain stores (*sigh*) once told me that, across the board, it's a waste of time to plant a veggie garden because you spend 20 minutes shelling peas only to end up with a tiny little bowl-full.  Well, not to be rude, but DUH!  That's why you plant snap peas & snow peas instead of shell peas!  ;-P  It's all about balancing the time & money that you put into it with what you get out of it, just like anything else.  There's a reason why I plant so many different varieties of beans & tomatoes - pst: they pretty much grow themselves & are simple to harvest & eat too!  ;)

Suffice it to say, I do not plant shell peas in my garden ;) however we did end up with a handful in our CSA share this past week in addition to a larger bag of the "less time-intensive" snow peas.  YUM!  What at treat!  :)  So I scoured my favorite vegan recipe website for a great salad or side dish with fresh peas but all I could find was a few hundred recipes for split pea soup!  So I did some experimenting and oh... my... WORD!  This is my new favorite salad!  It utilizes mostly veggies that are ready for picking in the late Spring, early Summer, so if you try to eat seasonally like us, this is the perfect salad for you.  :)




Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup fresh shelled peas
• 3 scallions, chopped (white & green parts)
• 1 handful of radishes (about 6 small-medium sized), chopped
• 1 handful cherry tomatoes, quartered (about 8-10)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lime

Mix all ingredients well.
Serve.
Enjoy!  :)





Variations:

• Substitute cilantro or parsley for sweet basil.
• Add 1 cup of cooked black beans (yummy protein!).
• juice of 1 whole lime as opposed to just 1/2 (I found that adding black beans weakens the lime flavor so using the juice of 1 lime instead of 1/2 of one evens it out).
• Later in the season, when local corn is harvested, I'm going to have to try this with corn too!
• Add 1 tbsp of honey, maple syrup, or your choice of sweetener for a sweeter salad.

Enjoy!  And Happy Cooking!  :)