GREEN PEA SALAD

Recipe: Old Fashioned Cold English Pea Salad

©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

Prep time: 15 min |

Yield: About 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

• 3 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 3/4 cup of sour cream
• 1/8 cup of mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon of white or black pepper, or to taste
• 1 (18 to 20 ounce) bag of frozen petit pois or baby sweet peas, thawed
• 1-1/2 cups of chopped celery
• 1/4 cup of sliced green onions
• 1-1/2 teaspoons of minced fresh dill
• 1-1/2 cups of whole cashews, or pecan or walnut halves, roughly broken, optional
• Reserved crumbled bacon & sprig of dill for garnish

Instructions

Cook the bacon, crumble and set aside. Reserve a teaspoon for garnish. Beat the sour cream with the mayonnaise to loosen it, adding the sugar, salt and pepper; set aside. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the peas, celery and green onion. Reserve a sprig of dill for garnish. Add chopped dill to the salad along with the crumbled bacon. Add the sour cream mixture, toss, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, allowing 30 minutes for salad to come to room temperature. Just before serving, toss in the nuts, if using, transfer to a pretty serving dish and garnish.

Cook's Notes: I used Pictsweet Deluxe brand frozen baby sweet peas. May also substitute two well drained cans of peas; I recommend Petit Pois or LeSueur peas though common green peas are also fine. If using canned, drain well and wait to add them at the end instead, tossing gently so as not to mash the peas. May substitute chopped yellow onion for the green onion and can also substitute all mayonnaise or all sour cream. Substitute chopped water chestnuts for the nuts, or eliminate altogether.

Optional Add-ins: Diced apple, chopped boiled eggs, grated or cubed cheddar cheese, chopped pickles or pickle relish, diced firm tomato, chopped bell pepper, and/or chopped pimento.

Optional Sweet and Sour Dressing: Combine 1-1/2 cups of granulated sugar, with 1 cup of vinegar and 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan. Bring to a boil until sugar is well dissolved. Pour dressing over the salad, mix well and chill several hours or overnight.