Pea Shoots to be exact!!!

In at least one other post, I’ve mentioned that pea shoots are one of my new favorite ingredients.  In fact, I’ve become rather obsessed with them.  They make a great addition to salads.  They are a wonderful bright fresh addition in pasta dishes, and from what I understand, they are great stir-fried (note to self… try this).

These two recipes,  Pasta Primavera and Pea Salad with Ginger Miso Dressing,  initially ignited my obsession.  But when it comes to the actual pea shoots themselves, I had a dilemma 🙁

The cook in me wants a secure source for pea shoots, but  I can’t rely on grocery stores because they aren’t always in stock.  So I was honestly and truly delighted when I saw a vendor offering them at a local farmers market.  I’m positive that my eyes lite up like a child’s on Christmas morning!   Though much to my chagrin, my excitement quickly evaporated when I was charged $12.00 for a small four cup container. YIKES… I would go broke feeding my habit!

I went home with my pea shoots (that were apparently more precious than gold) and with my tail between my legs.   I felt ripped off.  I’m happy to report though that I recovered rather quickly from the ‘sticker’ shock.  The gardener me said “Diane, find the seeds and sprout them yourself”.

And so began another adventure.  I sourced organic green sprouting pea seeds from www.gotsprouts.com for around $8 a pound (including shipping).

The first step in the process… I pre-soaked about a third of a pound of seeds.  The pre-soak’s mission is to rehydrate the seeds which you can see worked well… they plumped up and some even grew little “tails”.

Next I searched for the right “tray” to use to grow the sprouts.  As luck would have it, I had recently talked myself out of throwing away a wooden wine box which served very nicely for this purpose.  My trusty handyman cut the box in half and I drilled drain holes.

And on the morning of 22 June 2016, I sowed my pre-soaked seeds.

The seeds were nestled in and kept moist.   Now the waiting…

Around the end of Week 1, shoots started to appear en masse!

By Week 2 Day 4 they had really taken off, and I started my second sprouting box hoping for a continuous crop throughout the summer.  I started harvesting from the first sprouting box in Week 3 and so my adventure was a success!!!

I recently discovered yet another recipe, Asparagus and Pea Shoot Salad with Pistachios and Soft-Cooked Eggs.

It is absolutely delicious with a light lemon vinaigrette.  I think it would be a great addition to a brunch buffet.  But it was also good as a dinner salad.  Regardless of when to serve it, it is most definitely a new member of my regular rotation.

Shoots… thanks for visiting Palatable Life.

Be inspired,
Diane