Pea Shoots

I will admit it...I love peas.  I really do.  My mom said when I was a little kid, I would always say, "More peas pweas."  I even eat them frozen right out of the bag.  Is that weird? 

Anyway, the past couple of gardening seasons, I have been growing shell peas, sugar snap peas, and snow peas.  The problem is that fresh peas are in season for only a few weeks and...well, I want peas all the time.  A few weeks ago, I read somewhere that you can actually eat the pea plant itself, aka pea shoots.  I decided I would throw some of my leftover pea seed in a disposable pie dish with some dirt and see what happened.

In less than 2 weeks, I was awarded with pea shoots about a foot long that were ready to harvest.

So what did they taste like?  Well, they tasted just like yummy fresh peas!  It's amazing.  Who knew?  I didn't have very many, so I just sauteed them up with a teeny bit of butter and a clove of garlic.  Yum!  Perfect super healthy side dish.  You could also add them raw to a salad or throw them in with some pasta. 

I'm getting ready to plant some more right now.  Growing pea shoots is fun!  Have you ever seen pea shoots available at a store or the farmer's market? 

If you can't find it, grow it yourself

I live in a very small town.  The nearest grocery store is a 40-minute round trip.  And let me tell you...the grocery store SUCKS!  Anytime I travel to Kansas City to see my family, I always hit all the local grocery stores and stock up on some hard-to-find items.  Lately, though, I've been experimenting with growing some of the more expensive and hard-to-find things myself.

 

I love all kinds of Asian cuisine and absolutely adore bok choy.  If you've never tried it, bok choy is in the cabbage family and has a hint of mustard flavor.  It's amazing in soup or stir-fry.  The only kind of bok choy I can find at my grocery store is a huge honkin' monster, but I've found that the best bok choy is baby bok choy.

Since I can't find baby bok choy anywhere, I decided to experiment with growing it myself.  News flash!!  Bok choy grows SO fast.  I started seeds about 3 weeks ago, and I now am the proud mama of some baby bok choy.  It is so cute, too (and I'm not just saying that because they're my babies).  I'm going to let them grow for another week or two.  Then they'll be turned into a healthy and fabulous baby bok choy and shrimp soup.  I'll be sure to post the recipe.

Lettuce and most culinary herbs are super easy to grow indoors as well, whether under grow lights or just in a sunny windowsill.  It will save you tons of money (herbs are expensive!!).

Do you grow your own produce or herbs?