I was soooooo excited when I saw fresh English peas at the Santa Monica Wednesday Farmer's Market a couple weeks ago! I had never seen or cooked fresh English peas before so I picked a few handfuls and brought my veggie treasures home, eager to see if there really would be a big difference in taste and texture from the common frozen kind. Final verdict is that there was a difference and they definitely were yummy, BUT I also learned some valuable lessons and had some of my unrealistic expectations shattered....
First of all, apparently 1 pound of peas is mostly pod weight and only yields about 1 cup of peas. The pods are also too fibrous to eat, though perfect for soup stock! Following my mantra of using as much of what I have as possible and not wasting food, I used the pods in my weekly homemade chicken stock.
Secondly, peas are in season in the Spring and well....it's in the dead middle of Winter right now so my face fell with disappointment when I opened up the pods to find shriveled little peas. I guess I was expecting these round and plump peas the size of the tip of my pinky finger, not these little pellets. Hopefully I will see them again in the Spring and be able to get my hands on some fatty peas! With these two valuable lessons explained, on to my simple recipe.
I didn't want to take away much from the natural flavor of the peas so I decided to do a simple saute of the classic peas and carrots with a little addition of some beautiful parsnips I also picked up at the farmer's market. 
Ingredients:
1 Large Carrot Diced
1 Parsnip Diced
1/2 Cup of English peas
Cooking Oil & Salt
Instructions:
Lightly grease a saute pan with the cooking oil and heat on medium-high. Add the carrots and parsnips to the pan first because they will take a few minutes longer to cook. Saute over medium to medium-high heat for about 3-5 minutes then add the peas and toss, only cooking for about another 2-3 minutes. Season with a good pinch of salt and you have a delightful little veggie side dish!
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