Peas are the star of this delightful spring salad, but the Meyer Lemon and Ginger Vinaigrette is one you’ll surely use again!
A large salad can really set the tone for a holiday meal, especially if it is one that is a little different and makes its own statement of the season. Spring salads can be a centerpiece for your table, so many possibilities! This one makes a splash, and is completed in the time it takes for the water to boil to blanch the peas!
So many peas from which to choose!
For this salad, I decided to celebrate peas in all their lovely forms – snow peas, sugar snap peas (use one or both, all parts edible), plus shelled peas, and the tender and delicious pea sprouts. This is a real mess of peas!
Shoots galore
I’m not sure about other areas of the country, but we can find pea shoots all winter and spring from our greenhouses here in the north. They are such a welcome addition to the winter offerings from our local farmers, a taste of spring even when snow is on the ground. If you can’t find them, you can substitute another favorite sprout such as sunflower.
A versatile vinaigrette
The vinaigrette combines the wonderful seasonal Meyer lemons that have been so fat and juicy this year, along with vibrant fresh ginger. Always such good companions in anything! It is creamy and tangy, and we used the leftovers the next night on plain roasted potatoes. Divine! If you can’t find Meyers, substitute another lemon.
The garnishes are important
A final topping of scallions and fresh mint are not just decoration, both are essential to this salad. My mint has not appeared in my garden yet, so I had to buy some, which always annoys me because most of the growing season it is almost a weed it grows so prolifically! Who doesn’t love mint with peas! And the mint combines beautifully with the lemon and ginger.
Quick, easy, and makes a statement
If you are short of time, as we often are during the holidays, take a few minutes the day before to blanch all the ingredients and make the vinaigrette. Then, this lovely salad can be made the day-of in about five minutes! The fun part, making it beautiful on a platter.
Happy Holidays and Happy Spring to all!
Spring Salad of Three Peas with Meyer Lemon & Ginger Vinaigrette
The Vinaigrette:
- Zest of 1 meaty Meyer lemon
- Juice of same Meyer lemon, about 3 tbsp.
- 1-inch knob fresh ginger, grated on microplane
- 1 clove garlic, grated on microplane
- 1 small shallot, finely minced
- 1 tsp. French mustard (I used my favorite Maille)
- 2 tbsp. champagne or white wine vinegar
- ¼ cup fruity extra virgin olive oil
- S&P to taste
The salad:
- Bunch of baby arugula
- 8 oz. snow peas, trimmed and blanched
- 8 oz. sugar snaps, trimmed and blanched
- 1 cup fresh peas, blanched, or thawed frozen
- 1 bunch pea shoots
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced on diagonal
- 10 fresh mint leaves, chiffonade or minced
- S&P to taste
Bring a large pot of water to boil and add a teaspoon of salt.
While the water is coming to a boil, trim your snow and sugar snap peas. Break the tip of the pea and pull the string out along the inward curve. If the peas are really small, you might not need to do this. If they are really large, you will probably have to do this on both sides, but never fear, it really doesn’t take long.
Make the dressing: Combine all the ingredients in a jar and shake like crazy, or use your mini food processor or blender if you like. Taste for seasoning using a snow pea.
Once the water is boiling, drop in the snow peas and let them cook for about a minute and a half. Remove at once with a slotted spoon or spider to a colander, and run under cold water. You can also plunge the colander in ice water if you find it easier. Let them drain, then place on a baking sheet to wait their turn.
Drop the sugar snaps in the same water and let cook for about three minutes, or until tender and bright green. Remove, chill down, and drain as above and set aside to keep the others company. Lightly salt.
If you are using fresh peas, pop those in the water next and cook for a few minutes, until bright green and tender, etc. It’s quite a production line, but goes very quickly.
Now, you might be tempted to toss away this blanching water, but give it a taste! If you are using fresh peas, add the pods to the blanching liquid and let boil for about five minutes or so. You might be surprised at how much flavor, so if you are planning to make soup or even rice later in the week, pour what you might need into a container to save for then. A little bonus from your kitchen scraps.
Arrange the arugula on a pretty platter, lightly salt it, and top with the pods, then sprinkle with the fresh peas. Add the pea shoots any way you like. Scatter the scallions and mint over all, and serve with the vinaigrette. If you have any pea flowers, pansies, or other edible spring flowers, decorate! I didn’t have any this week, but it was still beautiful! Season with a bit more salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Use your imagination! Serve this as is, or add other spring touches to the platter, perhaps some soft-boiled eggs, spring radishes, colorful carrot curls, or grilled lemon slices.
P.S. This is free of nuts, gluten, dairy, seeds, soy, and is vegan. Full of fiber, it’s a diabetic’s dream, and heart healthy as well. Thus, you can probably serve this to everyone!
Dress them up any way you like, using what’s best in the season.
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This is so fun and so springy!!! And green! Interesting – I would combine lime with ginger, but you used lemon. You’re so creative!!!
Thanks Mimi! I’m still sitting here looking out at not-quite-green fields, so green is the color of the week here!
The Meyer lemons were great in this, and they were cheaper than regular lemons at the co-op and twice the size!
Hard to choose between these tasty options! Peas and mint are a classic combination for a reason.
I hope to get some Meyer lemons soon. Haven’t seen them around yet. 🙂
We’ve had them for a couple of weeks, so wonderful this year, the best I’ve seen.
Looks lovely for Spring and would be great as an Easter side dish!
I will be making it this weekend; it’s always a hit!
The vinaigrette and salad look and sound amazing! have to go out and get peas!
Thank you! It’s so very good! And you can fuss with it as little or lot as you like and it is still beautiful.
So pretty! It looks delicious!
Thank you Julia! Tastes as good as it looks.
This salad definitely says spring and looks beautiful./
Thanks Jovina! We really love this one.
My dad loves lemon. My dad loves ginger. It’s a no-brainer that he would be over the moon about the vinaigrette!
It’s one of my favorites because I love lemon and I love ginger!
It’s so Springlike, what’s not to like! All the accompanying flavours. We are moving into Winter so I’ll save it. :))
Something to look forward to Mary!
It looks like a work of art! Nice to see some green!
Ah, thanks Joni! Love making the pretty!
The Meyets Lemons are fantastic this year. I have some in the fridge. Definitely making your dressing. YUM
Thanks Bernie! I think you’ll love the dressing. I agree, this has been a marvelous year for the Meyers!
That looks and sounds delicious!
Thank you Stacy! It’s such a fun recipe, and you can add so many things to it to make it your own.
What a glorious way to celebrate spring and Easter . . . well, at least in the Northern hemisphere rho’ we can get all the ingredients here! So simple, so imaginative!! Oddly and personally I love all kinds of peapods and pea shoots naturally but oft ‘avoid’ the peas themselves 🙂 !!! Love the vinaigrette . . .
Thank you Eha! I love every type of pea in so many ways! This is one of my favorites!
Gloriously green… peas are one of my favourites and your dressing sounds delicious…Happy Easter, Dorothy 🙂
Happy Easter and Happy Spring my friend. We are finally getting some warmer weather and soon there will be more green, grass that is!
Thank you, dear Dorothy, happy to hear its warming up.. Ours is going of the charts atm… 40C plus and rising.. Take care 🤗
Keep cool!
What a beautiful fresh-looking dish, such a celebration of spring ~ I want to dive in! I’m willing the early peas in our polytunnel to hurry up . . . 😉
Going to plant mine this weekend!
Peas – one of my absolute favorite veggies.
Mine too! Don’t tell, but I even like to eat frozen peas right out of the bag…
What a beautiful salad Dorothy! So creative using so many different kinds of peas, and the dressing sounds wonderful~ This is Spring on a plate!
Thanks Jenna, that’s what I was aiming for! Happy Spring!
I didn’t know about using the pods in the blanching water and it makes sense. As always, you inspire me.
Thanks Ally! Pretty much anything you poach, well except eggs, will have left much of its flavor and lots of minerals and other nutrients as well, so why not use them?
This is one reason I stopped poaching salmon. I used to go through the whole process with court boullion and even had a fish poacher. One day, after removing the fish from its bath, I tasted the water and you could have strained it and served it as a starter it had so much flavor, all waiting to be tossed away! If I poach salmon now, it is with the tiniest bit of liquid, that I strain after and make into a sauce.
I love pea shoots, but it had not occurred to me that you can eat sunflower sprouts!
I’ve been seeing them at the farm stands for a while now; they are quite delicious!
Well, this is just gorgeous, Dorothy! The dressing alone is swoon-worthy, and I can imagine the refreshing crunch and sweetness of each bite. Help me out on the French mustard…is it like Dijon or something else?
It is a Dijon mustard that is one of the oldest, and I happen to love its flavor which I find a little more full than traditional Grey Poupon and less sharp. But I’ve seldom found a French mustard I didn’t like! Actually, the Maille mustard I buy is made in Canada!
Nice! I will look for it the next time I run out of GP. Thanks for sharing! 😁
💕
Looking splendid! May take a couple more months here in the UK spring to get the fresh peas from the garden, but I’m looking forward to it already!
I’m planting my snow peas this weekend, one week after our last snow! At least I hope it’s our last!
How beautiful. Happy Easter, Dorothy
Happy Easter to you too, have a lovely day!
Looks like spring and I love your dish!
Thank you! I made it again today for family gathering and everyone was quite happy with it.
This looks great, I’ll have to try it. Mint is not almost a weed, it definitely is one. I made the mistake once of planting it in my garden. But now I have a problem with some kind of bugs eating all of my herbs: rosemary, bay leaf, sage, and also the mint. So I have to buy everything.
Wow, Stefan, have you identified the bug? I usually plant my herbs to repel them!
They are black beetles with a bluish shine to them. We’ve had some frost this winter, but probably not enough to kill them. So I’ll have to see how I can get rid of them.
I wish you luck in identifying them! It’s so nice to have fresh herbs ready and waiting. Good luck.
Fresh green peas and mint are my favorite choice. Inviting green salad.
Thank you so much for stopping by! It is such a lovely combo.
What a beautiful salad! And I know I’d love that lemon-ginger vinaigrette! 🙂
Thanks Nancy! This is one of my absolute favorite vinaigrettes.
I think I would add the grilled lemon slices you suggest! (When I get my taste buds back lol)
Soon my friend I hope!
Okay, I’ll be inundated with vegetables very soon. Well, if the chicken shit is actually an effective fertilizer. I will need to learn to love and work with all this rabbit food. I will consider it my therapy! Thanks for the inspiration. Hugs, C
I’m planting some peas this weekend, can’t wait!
What a delicious salad Dorothy. I love peas and lemons! Not too sure about the sprouts but that’s just a personal thing. Thank you for that fabulous vinaigrette recipe too!
Thank you my friend! This is one of our absolute favorites!
You’re welcome, you have the most amazing and charming blog , you are doing really great with all this good works, would love to be friends and share ideas if you don’t mind?
Always! The more friends, the more wonderful ideas!
Healthy green salads are the perfect inspirations for all to consider going green; I.e. vegetarianism and back to life’s basics. ❤️🍽❤️
And we create green here in the north just about now !
I love peas and with that vinaigrette I think is really a special and flavorful salad 😋
It has become one of our favorites!