Friday, February 13, 2015

Culinary Trends in 2015: Fresh Peas

Petite Snap-Greens


Johnny’s Product Managers are weighing in on the National Restaurant Association’s list of this year’s top culinary trends. Last week, Vegetable Product Manager, Pete Zuck covered Heirloom Tomatoes. This week, Johnny’s Vegetable Product Manager, Lauren Giroux, will be discussing Fresh Peas:




     
      Fresh Peas
By Lauren Giroux, Vegetable Product Manager

Let’s think about the significance of peas. For many babies, peas were one of the first foods introduced, for better or worse. They are mild, sweet, and healthy. When most people think of peas, they are probably thinking about shell peas, and they are probably most familiar with the frozen form. They might also recognize the snow peas used in Chinese food. 

Today, peas are much more exciting. We still have the standard snap peas of gardens past — varieties like ‘Sugar Snapand ‘Sugar Ann— that you eat right in the garden, or pack as a snack in your lunchbox. Then there are pea shoots which make not only an appealing garnish option for many dishes, but also add great flavor to salads. The real beauty of pea shoots is the ability to experience fresh pea flavor all year round, in less than two weeks. 

And now, peas are coming in different colors and with interesting leaf patterns. There are yellow and purple pods, and the most tender shoots and interesting leafy “tendrils.” These shoots and tendrils make perfect additions to salad mix, or to garnish a plate. Don’t forget, the flowers, make another great addition to your spring salad. So, eat your peas — the whole plant. 


*Learn about Pea Selection at Johnny's: 

        ·      The Story of Sugar Ann >

     

*Discover our selection of 16 varieties of Peas at Johnnyseeds.com:

·         Shop for Sugar Ann >
·         Shop for Sugar Snap 
·         Shop for Royal Snow >
·         Shop for Golden Sweet >
·         Shop for Petit Snap Greens >

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Peas? Really? But they are so disgusting. I hate eating them ever since the childhood. Mom used to tell me, that I will like them when I grow bigger, but nothing changed. I am a grwn women already, but I still hate peas. I think that even if I'd had discounts by Masterpapers, I would never pick peas to buy.