Crunchy Pea Salad gets the ‘crunch’ part of it’s 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

• 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 salad, 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! 

Scroll all the way down for links to more Winter Salad ideas you can serve your family.

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.

Plan your meals around more winter vegetable crops from Georgia:

• Cabbage 
• Collards
• Carrots
• Kale
• Turnips
• Mustard 
• Lettuce
• Mushrooms
• Sweet Potatoes

Cabbage Recipes my family enjoys:

• Skillet Cabbage Rice & Sausage 
• Stovetop Grilled Cabbage Steaks with Bacon
• Crockpot Corned Beef & Cabbage
• Southern Style Cabbage Soup
• Asian Chopped Salad with Chicken

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 salad. They maintain their integrity much better and don’t become mushy.

When you are in need of a green food dish for St. Patrick’s Day or Christmas, remember this Pea Salad!

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! That’s good advise coming from a lazy cook!

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.

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Yield: 8 servings

Old Fashioned Crunchy Pea Salad

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

An old fashioned dish perfect for Pot Lucks and Church dinners as well as holidays. A Green food for St. Patrick's Day or Christmas parties.

Print

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

1. Cook peas according to package directions. Microwave peas are perfect for this recipe. Set aside to cool.
2. In a bowl, add all of the ingredients except the peas and the dressing. Toss to mix the ingredients well.
3. Now add the peas and the dressing and gently stir to blend.
4. Cover and refrigerate about 30 minutes to allow the flavors to marinade before serving.
5. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

You can add more or less dressing as you prefer.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount 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.