What "Spring" tastes like

Oh, I so wish I could take credit for this (insanely simple) dish... and I guess I could, but I don't want to risk the wrath of the Karmic Food Police.

 

My grandma, Karol, lived in Westport, Washington for about three or four years while I was growing up... something that, even while short in duration, I still look back on as one of the best memories of my childhood. Grandma had a good-sized garden plot in her backyard, somewhere between her barn-turned-house (really!) and the horse ring, that had everything from tomatoes to sugar snap peas and more... but, honestly, my brain kind of stalls out after the sugar snap peas. I remember sitting on the back steps with my sister and processing a giant bucket of the verdant, crisp bites of nature.

... peel, open, skim 'em out.
... peel, open, skim 'em out.

We would usually discard the pods, so I was more than welcome to help myself to what I considered the best part.

Here's a recipe from Simply Recipes that I absolutely recommend that you make. Tonight. Or now.

Seared Sugar Snap Peas Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 10 minutes

Almost all the prep time in this recipe is taking the strings off the sugar peas. Once you have that done, the rest is easy.

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Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pound sugar snap peas, strings removed
• 3-4 scallions or green onions, sliced on the diagonal
• Salt
• A pinch of sugar
• Zest of a lemon
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
• Black pepper to taste
• Lemon juice to taste

Method

1 Heat a large sauté pan on high heat for 1 minute. Add the olive oil to the hot pan and heat it until it shimmers, about 1-2 minutes. Add the sugar peas and toss to coat with the oil. Sprinkle salt over them and toss again. Allow to cook, undisturbed, for 1 minute.
2 Add the green onions and sprinkle with a pinch of sugar. Toss to combine. Let cook for 1 minute. Toss and cook untouched again, this time leaving everything undisturbed for 2 minutes.
3 Turn off the heat, mix in the lemon zest and mint, then add black pepper and lemon juice to taste. Serve at once.
Yield: Serves 4-6.