Old Fashioned Crunchy Pea Salad
You may remember Pea Salad from a Sunday brunch, especially around Easter or a big church dinner or maybe even on your dinner table when you were growing up. Recipes that stand the test of time are always the best!
Crunchy Pea Salad gets the ‘crunch’ part of its name from various ingredients depending on which recipe you are using. As we all know, peas are not crunchy! Hopefully, they are not! My recipe for Pea Salad gets its crunch from the cauliflower, celery, and cashews.
Yummy Ingredients in Classic Pea Salad
This is a Pea Salad without mayonnaise. We use fat free Ranch dressing instead which adds more flavor.
- Fresh Frozen Peas
- Celery
- Cauliflower
- Green Onions
- Chopped Pimento
- Cashews
- Bacon
- Basil
- Cheddar Cheese
- Ranch Dressing
One of my favorite tools in the kitchen is a mini electric food chopper like these. It’s such a handy tool, I own two for busy holiday meal prep but for this Pea salad with bacon, I prefer to chop by hand so I can control the bite sizes especially for the celery. I like for the celery to be really thin.
WINTER SALADS
Let’s talk about winter salads, shall we! If you are a fresh vegetable lover, you can appreciate a good salad recipe. I teamed up with a few of my foodie blogging friends to showcase some of the winter vegetables we enjoy mixing into our salads. Ya know. a salad doesn’t always have to be made with only lettuce and tomatoes!
Links to more Winter Salad recipe ideas are at the end of this post.
WINTER VEGETABLES IN GEORGIA
Green onions and Peas featured in my Pea Salad are both winter crops in Georgia. As you browse the vegetables and fruits in the produce department of your grocery store, you will want to check the labels to see where your food was grown. I like to support local farmers as much as possible by selecting their products first. For me, I look for the Georgia Grown label.
FRESH FROZEN PEAS
Fresh peas also known as English Peas are in season in Georgia during the winter months. Peas cook quick and become tender easily which means they can get mushy if you are not careful. For that reason, we always use fresh frozen peas for this Pea salad with pimentos. They maintain their integrity much better and don’t become mushy.
Storing Leftover Pea Salad
Any leftovers can be stored for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. I don’t recommend storing any longer because the fresh ingredients and peas will become too soft and mushy to be enjoyable.
Serve Pea Salad Cold
Classic Pea Salad is served cold which means you can make it early in the day that you plan to serve it and store it in the refrigerator. Serve your cold Pea Salad with the meal or as an appetizer.
VINTAGE PYREX SPRING BLOSSOM SERVING BOWL
Doesn’t it seem fitting to serve an Old Fashioned recipe in a vintage bowl? Any excuse to set the table with my Vintage Pyrex suits me just fine. This particular bowl is from the Spring Blossom collection of Pyrex. I found more of these on Amazon right here if you might be interested.
I received the Spring Blossom pattern nesting mixing bowls as a gift around 1978. When I spotted this casserole/serving bowl at an estate sale I knew it was going home with me! This bowl is likely ca. early 1950’s. I doubt there is much more than sentimental value involved. I took it one step further and served my salad in vintage green Melamine bowls also a thrift find. Do you enjoy vintage kitchenware also?
ALMOST NO COOKING
If it wasn’t for the bacon, there would be no cooking in this recipe! So I tell ya what, you can use a package of microwave bacon and skip the skillet! This recipe comes together in minutes.
LEFTOVERS
This is a perfect recipe for taking leftovers for lunch! Serve Crunchy Pea Salad as a side with dinner on Sunday and then take some for your lunch to work on Monday. Leftovers can be stored covered in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Old Fashioned Crunchy Pea Salad
This cold Pea Salad recipe comes together in minutes and can be stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve. A quick and easy side dish or appetizer.
Ingredients
- 10 oz. pkg frozen Sweet Peas (microwavable)
- 1/2 Cup thinly sliced celery
- 2 Cups chopped cauliflower
- 1 Cup Unsalted cashew halves
- 3/4 Cup diced green onions
- 1 Tbsp. diced pimentos, drained
- 1/2 Cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 12 oz. pkg. bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. crushed Basil
- 1/2 Cup Low Fat Ranch Dressing
Instructions
- Cook peas according to package directions. Microwave peas are perfect for this recipe. Set aside to cool.
- In a bowl, add all of the ingredients except the peas and the dressing. Toss to mix the ingredients well.
- Now add the peas and the dressing and gently stir to blend.
- Cover and refrigerate about 30 minutes to allow the flavors to marinade before serving.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
You can add more or less dressing as you prefer.
Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 427Total Fat 30gSaturated Fat 10gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 18gCholesterol 59mgSodium 1162mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 4gSugar 5gProtein 23g
Nutrition information is estimated and not exact based on brands used and ingredients contained in those brands.
Winter Salads
- Moon and Starfruit Salad by Art of Natural Living
- Old Fashioned Crunchy Pea Salad by Intelligent Domestications
- Pear and Pecan Winter Salad by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Roasted Fennel Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing by That Recipe
- Roasted Vegetable Salad with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Roasted Winter Veggie & Quinoa Salad by Sweet Beginnings
- Wilted Pear and Shallot Salad by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
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This sounds delicious. It takes my peas and peanuts to a whole new level.
Wendy, the peas and nuts are a great flavor combination. You can swap the cashews for pistachios or pine nuts too!