Sunday, December 27, 2009

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.

17 comments :

CC said...

Is "Ohhh,yummmmm" a for real word??
Looking at those snap peas in all their yumminess..it's all I can think of. Tomorrow,it's off to the store..I must try this as a snack..

Martha said...

Love sugar snaps! In fact, after the sweets of Christmas, vegetables will get top billing at LInderhof!

My Little Space said...

My mom tought me the preparation of snap peas when I was little. I used to help her cleaning them up. It's an easiest job! Not only doing the food preparation, though I've to learn handwash all the clothings as well(no washing machine at home!).

Katy ~ said...

Beautiful; I can see little hands sneaking over to grab one at a time and little people (big people in this house!) noshing in delight.

George Gaston said...

Mary, these snap peas look delicious and I love the idea of keeping some for a snack. My New Year's resolution is "snack healthy" in 2010. Many thanks for adding to my snack list....

Claudia said...

I made something similar with young string beans.Love the idea of snacking on these after all the rich foods.

Barbara said...

What an amazing photo! The colors are magnificent.
We're crazy about sugar snaps around here...can't wait to try them with sesame oil.

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

Mary, thanks for the tip, but I am loving the magazine quality photo... excellent job

Susan C said...

I fell in love with a similar dish at a potluck last summer. I'm so happy to have the recipe (and relived to see how simple it is).

Chris said...

These sugar snaps are also very good raw, or tossed into a salad.

NKP said...

They look so verdant and alive! Just the thing to wake the senses. I would put them out as bar snacks. An alternative to edamame. Delish!

Foley said...

Seems this past year I "found" the sugar snap peas again! I hadn't used them for so long and I just love them!

Your recipe looks delicious ..the photo was simply mouth watering!

Farmer Jo said...

I make these too! I like to sprinkle with seasame seeds instead of salt. MMM, these make me think of spring.

Elise said...

Perfect holiday recovery snack :) I find peeling snap peas so relaxing.

Glennis said...

I love these, and you're right, they are so easy!!

Allie said...

Wanted to let you know my hubby is addicted to these now!

Mary Bergfeld said...

Allie, aren't they delicious. I'm not programmed to accept the fact that anything this easy to make can be so good. My bad!

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