Friday, April 23, 2010

Green Pea Salad


Moss's was an old steakhouse on the downtown strip of my hometown in Elyria, Ohio. Elyria, Ohio was never and is still not a mecca of fine dining. In fact, when I was a kid we had the four basic fast food chains: McDonald's, Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut. We had the neighborhood Friendly's, which me and my girlfriends wore out on a regular basis. We had two dining establishments in town and they were both steakhouses. One steakhouse was family-owned and the other was a chain restaurant. Back in the day, everyone use to go downtown to Moss's, because it was family-owned unlike that steakhouse out by the mall. I'm sure Moss's served up some wonderful steaks, but all I remember was their pea salad. Gosh was that stuff good!

As soon as you would take your seat at Moss's, the waitress would bring out a basket of soft bread and a jar of pea salad. Moss's pea salad was a mixture of peas, mayo, and shredded cheddar cheese. The idea was to take a scoop of the pea salad and spread it on the soft bread. It may sound strange at first, but it really is delicious. That darn pea salad was my entire reason for going to Moss's.

Imagine my surprise when I received my recent issue of Cooking with Paula Deen and there was a recipe for Pea Salad. I was even more surprised to find that Paula had actually lightened up the recipe. Yeah Paula!

Green Pea Salad
Adapted from the May Issue of Cooking with Paula Deen
Makes 4 servings
2 cups fresh or frozen peas, thawed (I used used frozen)
1 hard-boiled egg, chopped
3 strips cooked and crumbled turkey bacon (I used regular bacon)
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayo
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
2 teaspoons rice win vinegar
In a large bowl, combine peas, egg. bacon, bell pepper, mayo, shallot, and vinegar. Toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.

Notes/Results: This is a great springtime or even summertime side dish! Instead of having the standard potato or macaroni salad at your next cookout or barbecue, try this green pea salad. It is the perfect addition to your grilled, barbecued, or even fried chicken. I really like how Paula lightened up this recipe by cutting the mayo with a bit of vinegar. The little chunks of egg and bacon add delicious flavor and color to the dish. This green pea salad is going to be a new side dish here at Stirring the Pot. It was a hit with everybody. Best of all, I don't even feel bad about eating it!

I am submitting this tasty green pea salad to Reeni at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice for her Side Dish Showdown.


I am also submitting this to Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her Souper Sundays roundup, a weekly roundup of soups, salads and sandwiches.

26 comments:

  1. I love pea salad--there is a place here than has a yummy one with a ranch style dressing and lots of bacon. ;-) This one looks really yummy--thanks for sending it along to SS.

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  2. I always turned my nose up at pea salad (we call it sweet pea salad). But then I moved out to the country where it's a potluck staple. It's grown on me to the point that I actually look forward to it! Never had it with bacon, but that sounds like a winner.

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  3. oh looks great Jasmine loves peas have a great weekend

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  4. Kim, this salad looks delicious! And green peas are in season!

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  5. Oh my! This looks wonderful! I always get stuck thinking of sides and end up making the old reliable potato salad or coleslaw. I'm excited to add this to my selection of sides for spring and summer!!

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  6. So did it taste like the one at Moss's? It looks delicious and I can't believe that about Paula! I guess even she had to adapt to this changing world sometime...

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  7. I too love a good pea salad. I love the crisp pop you get from the peas. I have tried a great many recipes for this salad. Another one for my "to try" list. Gorgeous photo as well.

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  8. i am so glad you posted this. i am doing brisket in a week and i've been racking my brain for a good side dish. i need look no further, delicious!

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  9. Oh, man, how did I ever miss this? I've never heard of pea salad. But I can promise we'll be eating it here soon. Thanks for the recipe!

    You didn't have a Big Boy in your town? Tsk.

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  10. Mmm...I love peas! Definitely need to put this one on my list for next week; I've been craving green veggies! And I like that Paula lightened it up a bit; good to see one of her recipes slimmed down a touch.

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  11. I have always wanted to try this salad. Is this a Southern thing? I recently bought a cookbook on Southern cooking and have bookmarked a LOT of them...only, I need to dole out how often I eat this way. You made this sound great, Kim! We love peas, so I hope to give this recipe a whirl for our Friday night Happy Hour. Thanks!

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  12. Mmm...this is my kind of salad! Peas are one of my favorite vegetables, and I will definitely be using this recipe at my next barbecue! Thanks so much!

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  13. I love green peas! I buy them every week. :) This looks like a great, healthy recipe. Thanks for sharing, Kim!

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  14. I like it how Paula Deen manages to make green peas fattening LOL. Great side!
    *kisses* HH

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  15. This looks like a great spring salad. I "need" to try it! :)

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  16. I love this, Kim. Like you said, a great replacement for standard BBQ sides.

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  17. What a cool idea to serve up pea salad in a glass jar with a warm basket of bread. I think that is a wonderful way to serve guests. My friend loves pea salad and makes it often. I am going to share this idea with her.

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  18. Hardly see so many peas in a salad. That looks great! I came from Souper Sunday :)

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  19. I love pea salad! This looks amazing. It's been too long...I've gotta try this! Did Paula Deen really lighten up a recipe? Wonders never cease : ) Hope you had a good weekend!

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  20. The pea salad and bread sound really delicious! I'm amazed that Paula's recipe is lighter. It looks excellent and fits right in to the theme of Spring. Thanks for sending it to the Showdown Kim!

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  21. That salad looks beautiful and delicious!Great spring dish!

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  22. OH my, I completely forgot about Green Pea Salad. Always loved it but I've not had it in years! Looks so good!

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  23. Awesome side dish.
    Great combination of flavours x

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  24. This recipe looks great! I found you on the Side Dish Showdown roundup. I'm going to try it tonight along with my leftover risotto (just posted to my blog today!) fried up in little cakes. Yum!

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  25. It's just not Moss's. My dad was friends with Bob Moss and we frequented Moss's Prime Rib and Spaghetti House. When Sandy Laubenthal bought and moved the place, the recipes went with her. But all is gone now.

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