I grew up hating, loathing, even gagging at the sight of, peas. I have vivid memories of them steamed in a plastic container in the microwave til they were wrinkled like my fingers after a long bath. And the smell that permeated through the house (and probably clung to the plastic container for many-a -year) still haunts me.

My mom used to smother them in butter, with the false hope I might actually consume them. Wrong.

But we were forced to eat the green legume, so I resorted to either a) plugging my nose, shoveling them in my mouth, then washing them down with a mouthful of cold milk, or b) chew, chew, chew to a mush then “wipe” my mouth with a napkin while discreetly obviously spitting the mush into said napkin. Oh yeah, I was stealthy.

Alas, my palate has expanded and I now find myself liking, and dare I say, LOVING them. Ok, maybe love is not the right word. But I do like them, I just like them raw. (Hmm…makes the raw diet seem almost doable. almost.)

Snap peas are a great way to get a satisfying crunch without grease and calories

And my newest favorite raw pea, the English Pea. These have to be shelled, where Snap Peas can be eaten as a whole, but they’re so good, I could eat them when I watch movies (when I want to give my chickpeas a break)

And my newest favorite legume (although it should be noted this is a bean, not a pea) is the much debated fava bean

They taste like butter. Why did I not know how good these were?? I plan on baking some (like I did with the chickpeas) in the next couple weeks so keep your eyes shelled for that recipe–I’m excited, to say the least.

Just wanted to say thank you, to the farmers market, for showing me how tasty these once-repulsive vegetables (but really a fruit because it’s on a flower) really can be!