St. Patrick's Day Peas

 

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PEAS

This past week I was finally able to plant some veggies in my garden. I dug up the rich black dirt to prepare the soil, made rows, and planted tiny seeds of beets, carrots, lettuce, radish, and kale. Pushing fat mini bulbs of red onions in the ground gave me all kinds of satisfaction at the thought of fresh onions to come.  But when I sprinkled the pea seeds is when I really began to drool.

Lots of people hate eating peas- even my two kids (of all people). I don’t know if it was what they considered “torture” picking peas and the time consuming shelling that transferred to their taste buds that did the trick or what. I certainly did my best to raise them to become farmers like my grandparents.  There is something altogether fascinating about peas from the fat little seeds that you plant in the earth, to the delicate vines that produce lovely blooms that turn into fat pods you pick, and then delightfully eat. Raw or cooked peas have a distinctive taste that shouts spring.  As soon as I plant peas, my taste buds go into overdrive demanding fresh green peas.

To satisfy my craving for peas, I grabbed the next best thing- peas out of my freezer.  So once again in a valiant effort (my children call it stubbornness, but I prefer to think of it as the Irish in me) to convince my kids and all you pea hating people, I’ve come up with a sure-to-please pea recipe that I call my St. Patrick’s Day Peas. The St. Patrick’s Day Peas have a smooth creamy cheesy flavor that hints of spring. My St. Patrick’s Day Peas is another quick (only 15 minutes) and easy no-fail recipe that serves four to five.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PEAS

1 lb frozen peas

½ tsp salt

Cover the bottom of a small saucepan with water, add peas, and salt. Bring to a boil and cook for five minutes.  Mix together:

½ c milk

2 tb cornstarch

Add to the peas. Cube:

 1 c Velveeta cheese

Add to mixture and cook until thickened and the cheese is melted.  Serve hot.

Tip: Adding ½ tsp of margarine helps prevent veggies from boiling over when cooking and adds flavor!