Sugar Snap Peas with Radish and Spelt Grains

I like to think that I can walk the walk when it comes to vegetables. But, like every home cook, sometimes my cooking habits get stale. This was definitely the case with sugar snap peas – they taste so wonderful lightly sautéed with garlic and olive oil, why would I eat them any other way?

But one fine spring day, my sugar snap pea epiphany occurred, courtesy of my New York friend Jodi Moreno (she writes a very cool blog called What’s Cooking Good Looking). We had made a deal to cook a salad together – she was to surprise me with a greenmarket vegetable and I would use it in a salad. When Jodi presented me with a bag of sugar snap peas, she also suggested that I use them raw, slicing them into razor thin strips. As I got my knife to work, I soon discovered the aesthetic beauty of finely sliced sugar snaps – I especially love how the peas inside gracefully spill out while they are being chopped.

This salad is super crisp, with juicy sweet sugar snaps teamed with crunchy radish, nutty spelt grains and the most lovely flavour-packed ginger, honey and lemon dressing. This is the perfect healthy weeknight salad, when a quick yet nutritious dinner is required.

This recipe is from Hetty’s new book ‘Neighbourhood’ (RRP $39.99) published by Plum and available now from good bookstores and online here.

Method

Add the spelt grains to a saucepan of salted water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30–35 minutes until the grains are tender. Drain.

To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together. Season well with salt and pepper.

Using a sharp knife, finely slice the sugar snap peas lengthways. Shave or slice the radishes into thin rounds. Place the sugar snap peas and radishes in a large serving bowl and add the shallots, coriander leaves and spelt grains. Add the ginger, honey and lemon dressing, season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. To serve, scatter over the sesame seeds.