Sweet, Sweet Peas

Growing up, I never liked sweet peas. In fact, they kinda made me gag. Instinctively, I knew there was something remarkably wrong about the sweetness, and slippery texture canned so thoughtfully by the Green Giant. The flavor is what I imagine propane gas tastes like.

I was content to spend my adult life pretending they didn’t exist. I shared this fact with a college friend and she seemed stunned and appalled by my declaration.

“You don’t like sweet peas?!” she yelped.

You’d think I told her I was going to shave all my hair off and eat that instead.

Excitedly and determined, she started to prepare a can just for me. She diced up some onions and simmered them along with the peas in a small pot. Butter, pepper, sugar, garlic powder and seasoning salt were all added. I sat on a stool in the kitchen with my arms crossed, looking on skeptically.

When she served them to me, I was amazed at how much I enjoyed these measly peas. And to this day they are one of my favorite sides, my husband’s too, and that’s saying a lot. When I met him the only green he ate was Caesar salad. The frozen variety are pictured here and have a lot more bite to them, I like them a little more than the canned ones, but will eat either.

From Frozen
1. Heat a skillet and dissolve a tablespoon of butter inside
2. Add diced onions to skillet and saute until they turn translucent, add salt and pepper.
3. Toss in frozen peas and saute until they are heated through and fork tender.
4. Plate and eat.

From the Can
1. Heat onions and butter in a small pot.
2. Drain most of the juices from the can of peas.
3. Add peas to pot, salt and pepper to taste.