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Cold Pea Salad

Posted by Elise on Jul 28, 2007

Filed under Quick, Salad, Seasonal Favorites: Summer, Vegetable, Vegetarian

Cold Pea Salad

This delightful cold pea salad recipe comes from my friend Chigiy's friend Beth, who brought it to a recent BBQ. It calls for Smokehouse Almonds, but I think it could easily be made with tamari almonds too. Perfect for picnics on hot summer days, it's made with frozen peas which help keep the salad chilled. The peas do thaw a bit, but they're good crunchy and cold too.

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Cold Pea Salad Recipe

Ingredients

  • 16-ounces frozen petite peas (do not thaw)
  • 6 ounces smokehouse almonds, rinsed to take off the excess salt, chopped (preferably by hand)
  • 1/2 cup chopped green onions
  • 8 ounces chopped water chestnuts
  • 2/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tsp yellow curry powder
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method

1 Combine the frozen peas, green onions, almonds, and water chestnuts. Mix together the mayonnaise and curry powder in a separate bowl.

2 Gently fold the mayonnaise mixture into peas. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Serves 6.

Notes from Beth: You make this salad the morning of, but add the almonds when you serve it. The salad is still good the next day but it's best if it's made the day you serve. Wonderful served with sliced tomato and avocado and chicken for lunch.

Indexed: Peas, Picnic Salad, Salad

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27 Comments

You don't thaw the peas? Surely you aren't eating the peas frozen. Do you wait long enough for them to thaw out in order to give the flavors time to meld?

Posted by: Betty on July 29, 2007 8:50 AM

Why are you using frozen peas? I bet this would be fabulous with fresh shelled peas, especially at this time of the year. This salad does sound awesome and I think I am going to try it with fresh...

Posted by: Pamela on July 29, 2007 9:33 AM

Holy Smokey Almonds! I just made this just now as my...um....after dinner before dessert snack. I don't know how many servings this was supposed to be, but I ate half of it myself. Its so addictive. I'll prob have the last half for bfast!

Posted by: Steamy Kitchen on July 29, 2007 5:26 PM

Hi Betty and Pamela - You use frozen peas so that they won't mush up as you are mixing together the salad, and it's supposed to be a cold salad. If it is used as a picnic salad, then it helps to have frozen peas because the salad will stay cold.

Posted by: Elise on July 29, 2007 8:06 PM

Oh my, this looks so, so delicious, particularly to someone who eats frozen peas straight out of the bag as a snack! The picture is lovely, too -- those colours go so well together! One question: do you use a particular brand of smoked almonds, or buy them from a particular store?

Posted by: Preeta on July 30, 2007 9:55 AM

Hi Preeta - The brand I used was Blue Diamond, but this would probably work with any smoked almonds.

Posted by: Elise on July 30, 2007 2:48 PM

Try this with peanuts instead of almonds OR for something truly spicy use Trader Joe's Thai Chili Lime peanuts or cashews. Yum!

Posted by: Madison Fan on July 30, 2007 3:13 PM

I don't like curry -- what seasoning could I use instead? Thanks!

Posted by: Dawn on July 31, 2007 8:56 AM

Could I replace the yellow curry powder with another spice? I would love to try this, but my husband swears he's allergic to curry so I'm not willing to chance it. Thanks!

Posted by: Allyn on July 31, 2007 8:58 AM

You could try Garam Masala as a replacement for the curry powder. It would have more of a cinnamon/cardamom flavor, but still retain some of the sweetness.

Posted by: Mike on July 31, 2007 12:53 PM

I made this the other night when I needed a quick "green side" to add to my dinner. My boyfriend LOVED it. The crunch was most excellent. My only addition was to toss in some raisins (since his philosophy is that everything is better with raisins), which added another delicious flavor dimension.

Posted by: Steph on July 31, 2007 2:03 PM

I just made this tonight and it was delicious! I did change a few things for the tastes in my house (no water chestnuts & 1/2 the amount of mayo) - regardless this is fantastic, easy and different - YUM!

Posted by: sjayne on July 31, 2007 5:01 PM

I just made this and liked it, but felt it was missing some dimension. I was thinking it needed something sour, but Steph, I think you're right on with the raisins. I'll have to toss some in the leftovers with my lunch tomorrow.

Posted by: Sara on August 1, 2007 6:54 PM

Just have to say I wasn't too sure about this in the beginning, but my boyfriend wanted to try it, so we did. I have to say it was shockingly delicious. I would recommend this to anyone who would try it. The curry is addicting.

Posted by: laura on August 1, 2007 8:14 PM

I added cooked rotini pasta, a TBSP of apple cider vinegar and a handful of chopped mint leaves to this recipe to make it a bit more kid friendly. The mint nicely complimented the fresh flavor of the peas and spice of the curry powder.

Posted by: Claudine on August 3, 2007 8:46 AM

Thank you for posting this recipe, it was delicious, and I think the fact that the peas are frozen & not fresh is the best part!
I also added tuna and used fat-free mayo, in an effort to lighten it up a bit =)

Posted by: Angela on August 4, 2007 7:29 AM

This was awesome! The only thing I did differently was to use Miracle Whip instead of mayo; I think it gave it a little extra something (and less fat). Thanks for another wonderful recipe!

Posted by: Jeana on August 6, 2007 6:34 PM

Very cool for these dog days of summer. Husband, who loves peas, thought outstanding. Made exactly as written. Nicely complex flavors that paired well with plain grilled chicken.

Posted by: MKDOB on August 8, 2007 6:23 AM

It sounded good on paper, but I made it and was not impressed. Maybe I can mix the rest with pasta as suggested above and make it palatable.

Posted by: Wally on August 9, 2007 8:34 AM

OH My this was gorgeous.I have made it twice.. I used low fat mayo and less then called for.. kept the curry powder the same. Everyone at our party LOVED it and we had to have it again this week. Thanks!

Posted by: Katie on August 12, 2007 7:42 AM

This is fantastic! It is interesting, unusual, and addictive. Because I didn't use the smokehouse brand of almonds, they weren't as salty and didn't need to be rinsed. Otherwise, I followed the recipe just as written and it is delicious!

Posted by: Kristy on August 13, 2007 9:53 AM

I made this salad for a 3 day camping festival over labor day. I converted the recipe for 150 people and used planters smoked almonds (not rinsed.) It didn't have as much smokey flavor as when I used diamond almonds but was salty enough. I have to say...this was by far the hit of a 3 day party where a myriad of cooks do the meals. People raved about this salad and I had so many requests for the recipe that I finally just posted it in the dining hall. I loved the ease of prep for 150 servings. I used 25lbs of peas, 12 large (10 oz) cans of planters smoked almonds, about a dozen red onions, 1 gallon of mayo, 20 cans of water chestnuts, and 1 cup of penzey's sweet curry powder and I eyeballed salt and pepper to taste. It was gone in a flash! Excellent easy recipe to use for a crowd

Posted by: Kelly on September 10, 2007 1:35 PM

If I use Blue Diamond brand too, do I need to rinse the almonds? I hate to wash away the smokey flavor, and instead of rinsing I won't add salt.

Do as you wish. Personally, I find the Blue Diamond almonds much too salty as is. ~Elise

Posted by: Valerie on January 1, 2008 1:58 PM

I have eaten this salad for years but also make it a little different. You put in what you love in my case bacon,pickles and sunflower seeds. YumO

Posted by: michele on April 15, 2008 8:21 AM

Inspired by your salad with the idea of using what you have, I used pesto rather than mayo and skipped the curry. I knew I would find good dinner options for this hot evening.

Posted by: anna on July 8, 2008 4:23 PM

I'm from Hawaii and this recipe has been in my family for years, it came out of a local cookbook there. And it is quite similar to the "cruncy pea salad" at a local restaurant; Ryan's. So if you are ever in Honolulu, go to Ward Center and eat the Crunchy pea salad at Ryan's. Mmm, mmm, good! Oh, yeah, my hubby doesn't like veggies or almonds, but he loves this salad.

Posted by: Alyson on January 31, 2009 9:43 PM

It was an Simply Recipes Salad Weekend! Besides making the Napa Cabbage Salad for a party (which was incredible btw), I also made up a batch of Cold Pea Salad to munch on over the weekend. Again, I substituted soyanaise for the mayo. It was SO yummy. I would always use fresh water chestnuts if you can get them - much more crunch! Thanks for another winner Elise!!

Posted by: Melinda G. on May 5, 2009 8:42 AM

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