Sugar Snap Peas with Sesame

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...These snap peas have become a feature of our dinner table. I also keep a supply of them in the refrigerator for between meal snacks. They're simple to prepare and once you try them I suspect you'll discover they're like peanuts or martinis in that "one's not enough, but two is too many". When I first made these, I'd stir-fry them. That's still a viable option, but these days I use the microwave to get the peas to that perfect degree of crisp-tender, while using far less oil. Unless you are working with small peas straight from the garden, it's important to trim the peas. To prepare snap peas for eating, grasp the stem end and pull it down with one of the plump sides facing you; if the peas are very fresh, this will remove the strings on both the inner and outer curves in one movement. Sometimes it is necessary to remove the strings separately: pull the blossom end toward the inner curve, and pull the stem end toward the outer. A bit of an inconvenience but well worth the effort. Toasted (dark) sesame oil and light or dark sesame seeds are the only other ingredients you actually need. A last minute sprinkle with coarse sea salt is nice but not necessary. While this is more procedure than recipe, proper quantities make this tastier and easier to do, so I'm presenting this in recipe format. Here it is.

Sugar Snap Peas with Sesame...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Ina Garten

Ingredients:
1 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed
2 to 3 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon light or dark sesame seeds
Optional: coarse sea salt

Directions:
1) Place peas in a large microwave pan. Toss with sesame oil. Run water over pan cover. Shake off excess. Cook, covered, on HIGH power for 3 to 5 minutes, or until peas are just crisp-tender.
2) Transfer to serving platter. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and optional sea salt. Serve hot or cold. Yield: 4 servings.