What to do with snap peas!

I've been getting my new zone 1 vegetable beds established, with a combination of perennials and rotating annuals. I didn't get them going until late summer, so I threw a handful of veggies in there, including some fall peas in about half the beds to build up healthy soil. I'll probably be planting peas and beans in all the beds every year, but I'm discovering that I have unintentionally been extremely successful this fall, mostly through benign neglect!

What would you do with an overabundance of snap and snow peas?? We love them and we've been snacking daily, and giving them to our parakeets when they get a little overripe and bitter, and I know we can use them in stir fries. But we still aren't eating them fast enough! Other suggestions??

Honestly just eat them straight is the best answer, snap peas don't need much help. If you really have more than you can eat, blanch and freeze them - they hold up pretty well in stir fries all winter.

Joao Winckler wrote:Honestly just eat them straight is the best answer, snap peas don't need much help. If you really have more than you can eat, blanch and freeze them - they hold up pretty well in stir fries all winter.

Ooh, I didn't realize that blanching and freezing them would still hold up! And yes, we eat them every day and it's too much for us. I can start giving them away at work, but the school where I work is actually on break right now!

Salads, chicken pot pie (just remove the strings and keep the pods), shepherd's pie... The list is endless. Use them instead of peas or green beans and they'll work out fine.

I understand that they are a great snack when dried, is that an option for you?

Anne Miller wrote:I understand that they are a great snack when dried, is that an option for you?

Oh true, I've seen them dried as a snack. I don't have a dehydrator but maybe I can manage something!

I love them blanched, chilled, and eaten with dip, on a veggie tray.

I'd have trouble not just eating them all raw!

There's a nice salad I make with peas or broad beans sometimes - boil until just cooked, cool down a bit, then make a dressing with some soft goats cheese, yoghurt, and fresh herbs and mix the cooked, cooled peas through. It's really good.

They're also great in stir fry.

Chop them fine and add to any dish in the kitchen. You really can't go wrong.

And if you lose track of a few, consider this: I found a small bag in the bottom of the fridge. I offered a few nice ones to my hounds, and they munched 'em up. I trimmed a few that were "weathered" and gave them to my neighbour's chooks -- they munched 'em up. The remainder went into the compost, where I'm sure the decomposers will happily munch 'em up. Nothing wasted at all!