Sunday, June 12, 2011

Sweet Pea Tendril Salad


Our local farmers markets are packed of wonderful produce this time of the year. This week I bought sweet corn, super sweet orange cherry tomatoes, peppers, beets, cantaloupe, and peaches. I can't help it. When I get to the farmers market I just go a little crazy and want to buy some of everything. This week I also found pea tendrils, also called pea shoots, from one of our local farmers. Pea tendrils are the are the young leaves and shoots of the pea plant. If you've never tried pea tendrils, they are delicious. I think they taste like fresh peas crossed with spinach. You can use them in  much the same way as you would use spinach. They can be sauteed, tossed into pasta, or eaten raw in a salad.
I used the pea tendrils and several of my farmers market purchases, along with some grilled shrimp I had leftover from the night before, to make this delicious salad. I used only pea tendrils for this salad but if you like, you could also mix the pea tendrils with other salad greens.

Sweet Pea Tendril Salad with Grilled Shrimp and Corn
Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a side salad
(printable recipe)
For the salad:
2 cups tender sweet pea tendrils or a mixture of lettuces and pea tendrils
A handful of fresh cherry tomatoes, I used tiny sweet orange tomatoes
Salt and pepper, to taste

For the corn:
2-3 ears of fresh sweet corn cut from the cob
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. curry powder (optional)
freshly ground black pepper

Remove the husks and the silk from the corn and cut the kernels off as close to the cob as possible without cutting into the cob. Melt the butter in a large, heavy saute pan. Add the corn, salt, pepper and curry powder, if using. Saute uncovered on medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the corn is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.

Lemon Vinaigrette
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper
Gently stir the ingredients together, do not emulsify.
I used this recipe for Margarita Grilled Shrimp. I made the shrimp the night before and had it leftover. I put them on the salad cold but they would be great right off the grill on top of this salad. (If don't want to go to the trouble of grilling the shrimp, you could substitute steamed shrimp.)

Place pea tendrils in a serving bowl or divide onto individual plates. Add the tomatoes and sauteed corn and grilled shrimp and drizzle the lemon vinaigrette over the salad.
Shop at the farmers market! You not only support your local growers but you also get to eat some really tasty food.

9 comments:

cocoa and coconut said...

I love the way you've served this up! It would be such a healthy and fresh thing to eat. I love supporting farmers markets and other organic produce. Good post!

Raquel @ Erecipe.com said...

I really love fresh vegetable, the sweet corn and the cheery tomatoes are great they are really nutritious.

Mary Beth Downey said...

This salad looks SO YUMMERS, Paula!

Anonymous said...

once the farmer's markets get rolling around here (denver), there's no place better, but they do take a while and it's a short season. gotta catch stuff when it's available. but the downside to that is, it turns us all into snobs. sweet olathe corn, for inst, has made it darn near impossible to eat corn during the 11 months of the year when it's not fresh off the truck. and melons ... gotta wait all year for the rocky fords to come out. but, i guess, there are worse problems to have.

great looking salad!

cheers!

Chris said...

I have been seeing Sweet Pea Tendrils around the blogosphere lately and have never tried! I am so intrigued and must try! Beautiful salad. :)

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

In the summer I love salads for a meal. So healthy! Great pic!

grace said...

one of my favorite summer pastimes is visiting the farmers market--i love to support those guys and see (and eat) all the fresh goodies. nice salad and use of leftovers!

Jessi said...

Hi. I’ve been looking through your blog and have found some great recipes. I just wanted to let you know about a contest the company I work for is having. They offer a $1000 prize at the end of each year. Its at Bass Pecan Company here is a link to their blog where they have info on the contest. http://basspecan.com/recipes/ I hope you’ll try it out. Thanks!

Jessi said...

Oh and the salad looks amazing I find that I really enjoy salads more in the summer with grilled chicken right off the grill